The Truth
by Vulkan
Summary: How far must one go to learn the truth? How many deceptions and betrayals should a person uncover? Harry's not the real BWL but is forced to be. Is this the only truth or... Behind the scenes HBP and beyond. See Profile for full summary. HarryGinnyDaphne.
1. Savior

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter. Damn!

**A/N:** This story is a rewrite of Reincarnation. I thought that Reincarnation was a bit too naïve. The start of this story will be during HBP. I will change the plot a lot from Reincarnation in the beginning but later it will be what I was thinking for Reincarnation.

**Summary:** How far must one go to learn the truth? How many deceptions and betrayals should a person uncover before learning the truth? This story tells the truth about Harry and his life. Alternate HBP and beyond.

**Chapter 1: Savior**

Amelia Bones, the head of Department of Magical Law Enforcement, was going over some reports in her study in her home. Her niece, Susan Bones who had just completed her fifth year at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry was sleeping peacefully upstairs. Amelia Bones was a noted figure in the ministry of magic. With the downfall of Fudge, she was almost a shoo in for the post of Minister of Magic. She was well liked by many people for her fairness and strict judgments. She was not that well liked by pureblood supremacists as she did not take bribes. She followed the law justly.

It was two days since Hogwarts had let out for the year. Two days since the public commotion over the events of the Department of Mysteries were dying down. But Amelia Bones was still collecting clues and reading reports to piece together the exact sequence of events that took place at the Department of Mysteries between the death eaters and six of Hogwarts students. There had to be something somewhere to indicate how six underage, under educated school children were able to take on twelve of the famed inner circle of death eaters and live. Granted they had had help later but they had successfully held them off till help arrived. Then there was also the sighting of Voldemort himself at the atrium of ministry. How was he able to arrive there without anyone knowing?

The security was reestablished and wards were recast. There was still so much work to do. If she were to be elected as the Minister, she could do a lot of good. But she did not want to take over as the new minister. She did not have the patience to put up with interfering bigots or sit and push papers all the time. She wanted to see some real progress and she felt she could contribute more by remaining where she was. There were other candidates who could win and were better than Fudge was.

She was so busy with her work that she didn't hear the soft knocking on the front door. After five minutes of no one answering, the knocks got louder and this was when Amelia Bones finally took notice of it. She was startled thinking who would want to talk to her in the middle of the night. It was 2 in the night after all.

She made her way cautiously to the door. She had her wand ready to bring down her guest should they prove hostile. She was an auror before taking up her office and she still was a formidable witch with a wand. She could best many senior aurors in the department.

Finally, when she neared the door, she asked carefully "Who is it?"

A person, male answered "Please open the door Madame Bones. It is urgent that I speak with you." The voice belonged to a teen by the tone of his voice.

Figuring that a teen was desperate for help or had a very good reason to be here, she decided to take a chance. She could still take him out if he attacked her.

She opened the door and took a good look at the teen. She was shocked to see the face of one and only Harry Potter at her doorstep. She had strict control over her body but this was one monster of a shock. Before she could recover, she saw the red light coming out of his wand.

XXXX

The next time Amelia Bones came to, she was sitting on a chair in what looked to be a muggle room. She was about to get up and investigate her surroundings when the door opened to admit Harry Potter. He was carrying a bottle of muggle juice and a bag of popcorn. She knew what it was since Susan loved to eat it.

He looked the same as he usually did. She had seen him a few times apart from the courtroom the previous year. He wore baggy clothes which looked worn and had trainers that were too big for him. The one thing different about his physical appearance was that he was not wearing his glasses. His eyes seemed to glow without the glasses. The gaze was more penetrating. His movements were more fluid, like a dancers or a cats. There were no wasted movements unless he did it purposefully. He looked like he was ready to strike, ready for anything actually. In one word, he looked dangerous.

"What is the meaning of this Mr. Potter?" she asked outrageously standing up.

He only grinned at her and said "Nothing to worry about Madame Bones. I just saved your ass from Tommy boy. And don't worry about Susan. She is all right."

"Where is Susan Mr. Potter? Is something has happened to her, I swear I will hurt you like you have never felt pain before," she threatened.

"My… My… aren't we excited today? Calm down will you? You are about to miss the show." Harry mocked as he calmly laid the bottle of Coke and popcorn on the table in front of her.

Seeing that he was answering her questions, she collected herself and asked calmly "What show is that Mr. Potter?"

"Ah! There is the Amelia Bones I heard so much about. The show is a surprise for you Madame Bones. I am sure you will enjoy it," he answered calmly still mocking her a bit.

"Where is Susan Mr. Potter? You said she was all right."

"Susan is currently at the ministry" he answered.

"Where are we?" she asked next.

"We are in a muggle hotel in Surrey near my aunt's house."

"Why are we here…"

She was interrupted by Harry who exclaimed "The show is about to start. Please take a seat and have some popcorn."

He pointed his wand at a blank stretch of wall in front of the table and chair and a yellow light shot out of his wand and hit the wall. The wall shimmered and formed an image of her study where she previously remembered being. She marveled at the ease with which he used magic. It was almost like magic itself wanted to do his bidding. _She saw herself leafing through some reports when the image shuddered as if the location of the image was hit by an earthquake._

Amelia Bones was caught up in seeing the imagery playing in front of and didn't protest when Harry gently pushed her back into a chair.

_She saw herself take her wand in the image and get up to investigate. She had hardly taken two steps when the door to her study burst open and half a dozen cloaked figures with white masks entered. They were followed by Voldemort himself._

"_Voldemort" her image self spat._

"_Amelia Bones, a thorn in my plans. Always defiant. Join me even now Amelia and I will spare your niece." Voldemort said coldly._

"I don't remember this. When did this happen?" Amelia Bones asked Harry Potter who was beside her.

His voice was distant and a little out of focus when he answered "What you are seeing is currently happening at your house."

"_Never. You are nothing but a murdering bastard. I will never join the likes of you." The image answered heatedly._

"_Very well, you shall die like the rest of those who have defied me." Voldemort stated._

"But how can this be? I am sitting here… I don't understand" she asked Harry confused.

He again answered in a distant voice "Be quiet for a moment will you? I want to have a bit of fun with the death eaters."

_Voldemort launched a red colored curse at her which the image of Amelia avoided by rolling to the left. She launched a purple colored strong cutting curse at him which was blocked by a shield._

"You have fun? What is the meaning of this?" the real Amelia asked.

"I am controlling the person who is portraying as you. Its difficult to talk to you and at the same time, give commands to a person in a duel" he answered in an annoyed voice still distant.

_Voldemort launched a series of dark curses and uttered crucio a couple of times too. The image of Amelia avoided the curses but the study was almost completely destroyed on her side. She fought back with a couple of strong Reducto curses followed by a three powerful purple cutters._

"Control!" the real Amelia screeched "Are you telling me that you have a person under Imperius and having her impersonate me?"

_Voldemort blocked the Reducto curses and avoided the cutters. But the two death eaters behind him were not so lucky. They did not have time to dodge before they had deep slashes on their stomachs and chests._

"Yes. But don't worry. They will never realize that it is Vincent Crabbe's grandmother who is fighting them and not you. Let them kill themselves." Harry told her nonchalantly.

"How can you be so blasé about killing? Have you no heart?" she demanded. Not only was Harry Potter using an unforgivable, he was calmly talking about having a person killed. Although a tiny part of her mind wondered how it was possible to use Imperious on another person and almost behave as though it was nothing. She knew how difficult it was to control other people. Here was Harry Potter not only controlling her, but he was talking to her and casting spells. His mental fortitude must be astounding.

_Voldemort and the image Amelia were battling furiously. Voldemort was not hurt in the least but the image Amelia sported deep burns and cuts. She was weakening quickly._

"Oh do shut up. If I had no heart, it would have been the real you in that image over there." Harry finally snapped. He let his control slip over the Imperius he had cast. Crabbe's grandmother didn't have any more magic to cast anyway.

_Voldemort watched as the image of Amelia was caught by a crucio. He laughed along with his death eaters when she screamed. He finished her off with the killing curse without waiting for her to recover. Seeing the two dead death eaters he ordered the remaining death eaters "Take these two and dump them somewhere. Meet back at base immediately. Our work here is done."_

Harry dispassionately watched as the murder took place and laughed when Voldemort and his death eaters disappeared.

He cancelled the charm on the wall and asked Amelia "Are you not glad that I saved you from the fate Tommy boy bestowed upon Crabbe's grandmother?"

"How can you be so calm about this? How could you use an unforgivable on another person? You should be arrested" Amelia said rapidly.

Harry scowled at her, narrowing his eyes he replied "You cant simply douse a fire and forget about the damage. You have to reply with your own fire and destroy those that hunt you. Make no mistake Madame Bones, this is WAR. People die in wars and I want the good people like you to live. That is why some drastic steps must be taken like you saw."

Amelia felt a heavy presence settle on her. There was no mistaking the heavy set air of unconsciously released magic. To thing that a boy could be the cause of this was simply unbelievable. She noticed that there was no real malice in his eyes but Merlin! Were they scary! But still, she was a law official. "This is not for you to decide. Who gave you the authority to take such decisions? You are still an under aged school student. How do you even know the unforgivables or the spying charm? Those are not taught at school."

"I know a lot of things that are not taught in school but does that matter now? Be glad that I saved your life and Susan's. Go live a happy life in the states or some other fair country where witches like you are appreciated." Harry answered.

"I simply cannot leave everything and go. I am a top ministry official. And what about Susan?"

"Hmmph… you still want to stay with a corrupt bigoted ministry that doesn't care if you live or die? The people don't care if you are the head of DMLE or even the minister. They just put their hopes and jobs on you or known heroes like me and Dumbledore to correct their mistakes. Nothing but sheep, the lot of them. Go to some other country and live peacefully. Take Susan with you now or after she finishes Hogwarts. I had put a memory charm on her to make her think she escaped when the attack began. She is still at the ministry waiting for the aurors to collect themselves and go to you home. You can tell her everything tomorrow." Harry told her resignedly.

"Mr. Potter… Harry, I don't understand. Why are you doing this? What do you get out of this? How did you pull this off?" Amelia asked softly.

"I am doing this because I can. Its that simple. Everyone hesitates too much to do anything. I don't get anything out of this. Susan is a good girl and I don't want her only family to be killed. If I can save one person more, its satisfying for me. Besides, the more death eaters that are killed now, the lesser Tommy will have for later. It was actually very easy to pull this off. I had a vision of Tommy ordering to attack you. So I escaped from my aunt's home, caught the knight but to the Leaky Cauldron and picked up a bottle of polyjuice from the apothecary in Diagon Alley. I found Crabbe's grandmother coming out of Knockturn Alley and I captured her. I came to your house, stunned you and took a little of your hair for polyjuice. I forced the polyjuice on Crabbe's grandmother and put her under Imperius. I went to Susan's room, put a little memory charm on her and had her floo to the ministry. After that I brought you here and you saw what happened. Dosed with polyjuice at the time of death, Crabbe's grandmother will stay like that unless someone really checks her body up close."

"I don't know what to say. I thought you followed Dumbledore's orders. We had reports stating that you had visions from Voldemort who you call Tommy if I am not mistaken. But why do you call him so? How could you even hope that this plan of yours would succeed without any help?" Amelia asked him.

Harry grinned and replied "Dumbledore and the world thinks that I follow Dumbledore's orders and I want them to continue thinking that way. Dumbledore is not always as he seems. You should have noticed since you are not in his so called Order. And I cant believe that Dumbledore hasn't told everyone that Tommy is Voldemort. Voldemort's real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle, a Slytherin student fifty years ago. I don't know much about him, but I do know that he was not a pureblood. As for the plan, it worked didn't it? Who would have believed me if I told them that you would be attacked and that I saw it in a vision? They would give me a sleeping draught and send me home."

Harry sighed and continued "I am tired of answering myself to everyone. I helped you and that's what that matters. There is no future in this country for anyone. But being the so called savior, I cant get out of here like I want to. You have a chance to do so. Take Susan and get out of there. If she wants to complete her education at Hogwarts, she can and I will promise you that I will look after her safety. So don't nag me about the things I did to save and just go away."

Amelia reluctantly answered "I admit I was thinking about leaving the country myself. I would not have a valid reason and it would be difficult for me in another country if I simply left like a coward. Thank you for the chance you gave me and Susan. I trust you will take care of Susan's safety at Hogwarts if she wishes to attend. Thank you."

She hesitated a bit and asked "Can I ask you a question?" At his answering nod, she asked "Why the façade?"

Harry suddenly slouched his shoulders a bit and put on his spectacles from his pocket. He put a sad but determined expression on his face and bent his knees a bit awkwardly. "This is what the people expect. This is the Boy Who Lived they want to see. I give them that. The person you saw before was Harry… just Harry. The boy who was forced to grow up and keep his secrets lest he be devoured by the masses and the heads of war. You want to know the saddest thing, you are the second person to ask that to my face. And you are the second person to see the real me."

Amelia couldn't contain herself. She asked "Who is the first?"

Harry suddenly laughed and replied "It was Luna Lovegood. People think she is a quack and knows more about people than they themselves do sometimes. After the debacle at the ministry, I was searching for a way to believe that my godfather was alive in the veil. I came across her and she told me some things to help me and later casually asked me 'when is Harry going to meet Luna?' I swear I had the most interesting expression on my face. Anyway, I realized that she knew about my façade longer than I knew her name. She has the most fascinating view of the magical world. I hope I can know her better in the coming year."

"Why are you telling me all this? Are you not afraid that I will tell someone else about all this?" she questioned.

"True. You could but you wont. You owe me and besides, did you really think I would let you go if you didn't swear a magical oath about this. I am big on saving people and all but I have to look out of myself as well. So lets have your oath shall we?" he asked pleasantly but his voice had an undercurrent of danger that she found hard to ignore.

She was indeed grateful for his help but would never agree to this teenager in front of him. She called out "I swear on my magic that I will not reveal anything in regards to Harry Potter that I learnt today without the express consent of the said Harry Potter. So mote it be." A brief flash of magic sealed that oath. The good thing about that was it didn't need a wand to perform. She didn't think he would give her back her wand.

He surprised her by tossing back her wand to her "This is your original wand. Unless they bring in Ollivander, no one will know that it isn't your wand at your home. Use this wand until you get out of country and then buy a new one. I think the ministry could track Ollivander's wands outside England, but you should know better than me. One cant be too careful. This room is covered for a week. Consider this my parting gift. Maybe we will see each other again if I am able to get away from here. Good bye."

She watched incredulously as he disapparated away without making a sound. This had to be one of the most intriguing days of her life. Here was a teenager who wielded magic with an ease unseen for centuries who had rescued her. True, he had used illegal magic but did it really matter to her? He had saved her and had made sure her niece was safe. The loss was a death eater sympathizer or an actual death eater in her place. She would keep the young man's secrets and would as he had advised. It was the least she could do. It was time to leave the country.


	2. History

**Chapter 2: History**

Harry soundlessly appeared a few blocks from Privet Drive. He pulled out his invisibility cloak from his pocket and draped it over himself. He casually walked back to Provet Drive without getting interrupted. He knew there were guards from the Order. But it was the middle of the night and he knew Moody never had night shifts. He picked the lock on the back door and stole into the house. He quietly made his way back upstairs to his room.

He was too high on adrenalin to sleep today and to think this was just the second day after the school let out. He was a bit glad to have gotten something off his chest to Amelia Bones. He was too tired to keep it all in. He had many secrets and they were eating at him. He could bear them just fine on his own but lately, he had been getting too frustrated.

Harry lay back on his meager mattress and settled to think.

He was glad to have helped Amelia Bones but he also wondered if he had done the right thing. He never had any doubts about using Crabbe's grandmother or the death of two death eaters he had caused at her hands. He had no sympathy or forgiveness for those who supported Voldemort. He knew it was harsh but it was the way he was. His world was not all flowery and easy. His childhood alone ensured that he would grow up really early.

He learnt early on in his life that if you give people what they wanted to see, you could hide your actions better. It basically started with Vernon Dursley and then Dudley at school. He hid that he was in fact the leading student at school without the Dursleys ever noticing it. The first year he came back with excellent results, he was shut in his cupboard for a week without food. The next year, he had shyly approached the principal directly about the result sheet. Granted he was not as used to lying then as he was now but he thought it was a decent effort. He had told the principal that he was very grateful for his aunt and uncle to have taken him in after his parents had died and didn't want them to think he was better than Dudley. He had to create a few tears to convince the principal but in the end he had agreed. At that time, his plan was to keep the real results to himself so that he might get some scholarship at a far off school earlier.

Well he got that wish but his results didn't matter. Harry was always cynical but had a realistic view on life. He knew he was wronged but he didn't know by whom and how many times. He knew that what Dursleys did to him was not acceptable but he was not in a position to do anything about it.

He could read people pretty well. It helped him avoid punishments and tricky situations a lot times at the Dursley household. And when Hagrid arrived at the shack to tell him about the magical world, he acted perplexed. He knew he had to get more information before he could present an acceptable face to the wizarding world. So he waited until he had enough information about his supposed victory over the dark lord before forming a persona that suited him.

There was a reason that the sorting hat wanted to put him in Slytherin. And it wasn't Hargid's and Ron's opinions that influenced him. He wanted to hide in plain sight and what best way to do that than do what was expected of him. It was this thought that the sorting hat read and granted him to be Gryffindor.

The first year was when he was slightly getting more used to the wizarding world. He had always had less sleep at the Dursleys and his body was used to that. He thought he was an anomaly since he could function fine with only four hours of sleep a night. He was sure he had a case of insomnia. But he was happy for it too. He didn't view it as a disease. Rather he was very happy for it.

After Dumbledore had warned him about late night wanderings in his first year, he had waited a few days. After that he had continued his forays into the library to read books. He knew they wouldn't expect him to continue it after bring warned off. He kept away from the restricted section though. He was not skilled enough to keep the alarm from being sounded.

He kept his magical talents to himself. His acting capability had developed significantly at the Dursleys. He fooled all his teachers into believing that he was an average student. He had read in the library that the end of year exams did not matter until the fifth and seventh year when you took the ministry conducted exams.

Snape was an issue at the beginning. Whenever he met the man's eyes, he felt as though Snape knew what he was thinking. And he was also reminded of the Dursley abuse whenever he met Snape's gaze. So he stopped looking into his eyes after a few classes. He spent almost two whole months looking in the library for potion books after he got the invisibility cloak at Christmas. He knew that Snape wouldn't teach anything and it was a subtle magical subject that could be very helpful and easily concealable. For example, if he wanted to hurt someone, he could whip up a potion and have him ingest it unknowingly.

The troll incident at Halloween was not particularly what he had planned but he was glad nonetheless. Friendship was one area where he was insecure due to his young age. He had never had friends. That was the only reason he put with Ron before Halloween. That and the fact that Ron was more knowledgeable than him about the wizarding world. He needed information and Ron was easy to con to give up information that he needed.

Christmas was surprising because he had never had gifts. It was refreshingly nice to have his faith in good people renewed a bit. For a person to make a gift by hand and send it to him was almost unbelievable. It gave him a warm feeling that there were still some people who cared about unloved people like him.

Hermione's addition tempered Ron a bit and Harry didn't have to get more irritated at him. She was knowledgeable but a bit too bossy. Ron evened that out. It was nice mix actually.

It was only after he faced Voldemort at the end of the year and was lying in the hospital be recovering that he thought about the events of the year. For him, it felt as though it was awfully convenient that events just happened at the right time. Foe example, had he not seen the paper in Hagrid's hut about Gringotts breakin, he would never have been interested in that. When he was about to lose interest in that, he found Fluffy and then the Mirror of Erised. It was as though someone arranged all this to happen. Quidditch was a nice touch to keep his distracted from thinking too much.

The year end adventure was just that an adventure. How could a bunch of school kids possibly bypass the security that was supposed to keep adult witches and wizards at bay? It was also a coincidence that all the puzzles were designed according to the strengths of Ron, Hermione and himself. Hermione with the Devil Snare, Ron with the chess, Hermione again with Logic and him to deal with the mirror. And he was purposefully alone at the end and just when things got out hand, Dumbledore was there.

Afterwards, when he discussed it all with Ron and Hermione, it became a fact. They had figured out that he had sent Harry the invisibility cloak and made him learn about the mirror. They had also figured out that he knew what had happened and let the events play out and did not interfere. But when he brought up the topic that Dumbledore thought it was Harry's right to face Voldemort, Ron interrupted him and it was quite a blatant effort of avoiding the topic. He wondered about it and then let it go since Ron had helped him and was a good friend. The points at the end of the year was a nice incentive to encourage such behavior from him.

The conversation with Hagrid before he gave him the photo album was a bit off putting. He didn't expect to act as an adult to an adult. He was afraid he gave away that he was quite capable of figuring out things but he really felt sorry for Hagrid then.

It was next year that solidified his doubts that Dumbledore was controlling many things. He didn't know the extent of it but he was sure that the first year was a test for him, one that he had passed with flying colors.

The events of the second year were arranged such that he was examined. He felt as though it was a test of his courage. He thought that it was also a test about how he fared when most of the people were against him. The heir of Slytherin thing was an obvious clue. Snape was the one who had suggested the _serpensortia _spell. Of all the spells, why that spell? Dumbledore might have suspected that he might have gained some abilities from Voldemort and wanted to test that. The thing about the Basilisk was definitely a test of courage. Who would expect a 12 year old kid to have the courage to face a very powerful and very old Basilisk? But it was expected of the Boy Who Lived. He should put his life on the line to save anyone and everyone. He hardly knew Ginny then. She was cute and all but he was grateful to the Weasleys for rescuing him from the Dursleys.

So he went and faced the Basilisk. And when Fawkes came, he was sure that Dumbledore was testing him again. If Fawkes could come, why not Dumbledore? If Fawkes could carry the sorting hat, why couldn't he carry Dumbledore? In fact, he read upon phoenixes later and realized that they could carry people very easily. It was a dangerous situation but he was sure that someone was watching and would come to aid when he was about to die.

The summer before his third year was one of his best. There was no one who was openly keeping tabs on him. He blew up Marge and escaped the Dursleys. It was during this time that he realized the importance of physical fitness. He remembered being very sloppy and tired while escaping the Basilisk. He started doing exercises and had not stopped it even now.

The third year was a mixed one in many ways. Remus Lupin was a friend of his parents and never talked about them during the entire year until he made a deal with him. Frankly, he had made out that he was a werewolf after two months. He had not just let others in on the secret. He knew it was up to Remus to tell others. He himself had many secrets and it was his decision if he wanted to tell others.

Harry kept his head down a bit and didn't talk about his suspicions about Dumbledore with anyone. He felt that he had too much in the hospital wing with Ron and Hermione at the end of his first year. It was in this year that he started to seriously study offensive magic. His late night wanderings did not stop. He took the electives that were easy to keep people off his back. He privately studied Runes. He found the subject fascinating. It also came to him easier. He could make out patterns in runes and errors in rune sequences. It was as though they were calling him to find the mistakes.

He had also started to show an aptitude to DADA. It was expected that dark lord would be proficient in dark and arts and that the Boy Who Lived would be proficient at its defense.

By then he had accepted a few things. Dumbledore was subtly influencing events that happened around Hogwarts so that he faced a challenge every year. He was being tested and groomed to be the Boy Who Lived. Every year, he faced a practical test. The school exams were based on books. He was supposed to not do so well in them as he was not supposed to be more knowledgeable than the Ravenclaws who read a lot. There were no tests at Hogwarts for practical tests and the application of meager knowledge he was supposed to have gained. Dumbledore arranged for that every year. It was to test his ability to think on his feet and use what he knew and what resources he had. He was happy to oblige but he always kept his real knowledge and capabilities to himself.

He was a bit naïve to let Peter escape. But he accepted that as a flaw of his younger, more innocent mind. It was hearing the prophecy from Trelaway that got him thinking lot. He suspected a prophecy might be the reason that Dumbledore was testing him and grooming him. It looked like a very good possibility. Now, he knew it was true.

His suspicions about Dumbledore grew due the events regarding Pettigrew. Why did Snape barge just then? Why not before? Someone had to be monitoring their actions in some way so that Snape may come upon them at a particular time. It was as though they wanted Harry to know about Sirius but not have any advantage from it. He was also suspicious when Dumbledore did not do anything for Sirius once he learned the truth. Even being naïve about wizarding world, Harry knew that Dumbledore carried a lot of weight in the wizarding world. He was also the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and surely he could have arranged for a trial.

The Quidditch world cup was nice. He enjoyed it. It was also a test of his will when the veelas performed. His will was more powerful and he did not fall for their charms. He did like the view though. It was funny to watch the reactions of others. The interruption of the death eaters drove home the seriousness that was required of him. It wasn't a game anymore. He needed to prepare seriously.

He was not actually that unhappy when he was chosen as the champion. It gave him legitimate reason to spend more time at the library. It also helped that Ron was fighting with him. He did not want Ron to drag him away every time to play chess or Quidditch.

People were against him again this year. They scorned him and he scorned them. He came to know how fickle the public really was. He realized that they were all just sheep. He had to be the wolf to take advantage of them. They were blinded by their bigotry, beliefs and rumors. He didn't care a whit about them from then on.

He spent a lot of time at the library and in empty classrooms. He learnt more magic that all the previous years combined since he didn't have to hide anymore. He learnt about the true nature of mastering magic. Wand movements and incantations were simply guide to shape your magic into spells. It was because most people did not have the mental fortitude to really master magic. _Magic – the Reality_ was the book that helped him find it. It was by far the most helpful book he had read. He noted that Dumbledore did not actually perform any spell by the book.

After the first task, he finished the book. He learnt that there was no need to shout or even say the incantation of a spell. There also no need for elaborate and complicated wand movements. He could just as easily cast a spell by a jab, flick, swish or an arc. It was all in intent and concentration.

For developing concentration, he looked into developing his mental capabilities. He found Occlumency and Legilimency. He found the techniques in the basic books very tedious and impractical. So he sneaked into the restricted section to find more advanced books. He specifically looked for older books since many people might not remember old techniques. It was this thought that led him to make him most important discovery.

He discovered why Chamber of Secrets was called so. He found a lot of rooms hidden in the area. There was a weapons room, a potion lab, a private library and a whole set of different rooms he didn't understand the purpose of. The library contained rare books and specifically old books. They were all a millennium old. But they were all intact. He left the Basilisk remains as it was since he didn't know ho to harvest it and it didn't smell. There seemed to be a preservation ward on the whole Chamber of secrets because everything was pristine. There was no sign of dust or wear and tear in any of the rooms. He wondered if Voldemort had found this since he was the Slytherin heir. But his doubts were cleared when he looked at the magical logs that were kept. The last person who had entered the library was Salazar Slytherin himself. The same log also said that the hidden rooms were also last accessed by Salazar Slytherin. But many people had accessed the chamber hall after Salazar. Tom Riddle was the last to access it. So he was safe in the aspect that no one would know the existence of these books. It also seemed that Salazar Slytherin was a bit of a collector of rare tomes. There were books that were 3500 years old in the collection.

He found a potion and a spell combination to magically learn a language. He did it several times to understand the many languages the books in the library were written in. The knowledge in the books was astounding. He found about so many different types of magic that were not practiced in this era. He found ritual magic fascinating. It combined potions, alchemy, runes and chants to achieve a specific goal. A lot of powerful things could be done with that. He resolved to look into that more later. He suspected that it was blood magic ritual that had enabled Salazar Slytherin or one of his ancestors to talk to snakes.

But for now, he had concentrated on Occlumency. An old method which required less effort was the first one he practiced. He did not have to suppress most of his emotions like the newer books in the library. He did not want to suppress his emotions since he had learnt that emotions are the main components of spells like the Patronus. He was there were many spells like that that required emotion. This old technique made him categorize and suppress the memories that affected him the most. And by suppression in old terms meant fading the memories and not shutting them down completely. He practiced hard to make him memories fade. He learnt to concentrate on a specific image to let the other thoughts and memories fade into the background.

He was extremely happy to have found that. It helped him in remembering things more easily. He could also grasp things quicker. It also improved his focus. All this helped his studies to go along quicker and also to maintain his acting suitably faking emotions. Shortly after becoming mildly proficient in Occlumency, he started working on silent casting. When he could cast all the spells he had learnt without uttering a single sound, it was time for the Yule Ball.

It was one thing he learnt he was bad at, it was dancing. He ogled a bit at Cho because he always flashed him when no one was looking. Obviously he wanted more. So he kind of went after her. Dancing was simply not his forte. He had tried to learn it but it was useless. After the Yule ball and the fights, he did apologize to the Patil twins. He told them that he couldn't dance for the life of him and that he had tried. Padma was forgiving and said that it was cute that he had tried. Parvati on the other hand found it insulting and was very cool towards him.

The Rita Skeeter business was very irritating and he was hoping to have a really good session of practicing his curses at her.

Harry had continued his physical exercises that he had started before his third year. Now he did everything in the chamber. He exercised there and read and practiced spells there. There was no need to go in search of empty classrooms. It was also an added bonus that Dumbledore could not spy on him by any means in the chamber. He practiced Potions and found that he was actually a very good student of potions. It was more like runes. Combinations and sequences equated to ingredients and brewing. He also found an old guide to potions that Salazar used. It explained to him the results of using a specific ingredient in a specific way. It was a bit outdated but it gave him the necessary method of mastering potions if he wished.

There were a lot of dark magic and battle magic books among the offensive magic section. In most cases, the line between them was blurred. But he didn't dare look into dark magic yet. It was not because he despised it or anything. It was because he didn't have any true knowledge or opinion about it. Unless he read more about the effects and consequences of using dark magic, he could not learn about it. He did learn a lot of battle magic though. He was not strong enough to cast the medium level battle magic spells but he low level spells did more than enough damage. His magic was not powerful enough for that kind of magic.

It was also when he started researching about the connection he suspected he had with Voldemort in the chamber that he made a startling discovery. He had a bond with Ginny Weasley. He did not what kind of bond it was or why it was there. He suspected it was because he had saved her from the Basilisk and Tom Riddle. But he did not have the time to research more about it. He had to concentrate on the more practical aspects of magic due to the tournament. But he did find out that he was attuned to her. He couldn't hear her thoughts or make out emotions of anything. He could just feel her in a sense. He was positive he could single her out in room full of people who looked like Ginny.

Concentrating on the practical side of magic led him to cast spells with ease. He did not need elaborate wand movements and incantations anymore. A simple wand action and mental concentration was enough to cast a spell. A jab, flick, swish, arc was enough. He learnt to use it according to the spell. For example, a stunning spell took a jab as it was a point spell. A cutting spell like _diffindo_ required a flick or an arc depending on the type of cut. A levitation spell required a flick as did the summoning charm. Various other spells required only these simple wand motions and sometimes no wand motion was required at all.

In the meantime, the second task came and went. He was sure Dumbledore had him monitored during his time in the library of among his friends. So he acted as though he didn't have a clue about how to go about the second task. It was awfully convenient that Dobby just speared to listening to him that particular day at that particular time. He was happy with Dobby but he knew that Dobby was very dumb. There was no way that he could know about gillyweed or how to get it. He simply did not have enough brain capability to deduce such things.

He was also very suspicious of the help Moody was offering him for the tasks. He happened to exactly know how to help him and make him win. It seemed as though Moody was more eager to make Harry win than Harry himself.

The second task was a boon. He did not generally have an attitude to save people. But he realized that Boy Who Lived was not expected to be clever. He was expected to be caring enough to wait to make sure that all hostages were rescued. He deduced that someone must have the ability to talk to the merpeople since the eggs contained their voices. How could someone have gotten their cooperation and make them hold the hostages and talk for the egg? So he waited to make sure all hostages were safe.

It was the best thing he had done in his short life. The result was his first of many experiences at sex. Fleur was very grateful. She taught him all about sex and the generalities about girls and dating. He learnt how to kiss properly and how to please a woman. They had many sessions during the year. She had apologized about calling him a little boy. She was actually very happy about his good physical condition. He did not have muscles but his body was taut from all the physical exercises he did regularly. She gave him tips about wooing women and what to do after that. She explained about the act of sex and the numerous ways to make sex irresistible. She taught him to make the woman beg for more from him. She explained about sensitive areas to tease and techniques to tempt. She also taught him about blowjobs, anal sex, tit fucking and many positions to have sex. He was an eager student and she was a grateful and naughty teacher. Being a veela, she had studied about sex extensively and she passed all that knowledge to him.

Harry did not reveal any of his secrets to her. She was nice and she also hid her intelligence behind her blond bimbo act. She was actually scarily brilliant at manipulating people. They fucked regularly but he didn't trust her enough to tell her more about him. It was utterly satisfying and enjoyable activity. Due to his mental fortitude, he was not talking gibbering in her presence when she was blasting him with the full power of her veela charm. She was very happy with that and hence spent more time with him. He had to convince her to keep everything a secret but a few good sessions made her agree.

The year end was exciting and at the same time terrifying. He did keep a cool head. He felt disgusted when his blood was forcibly taken to resurrect Voldemort. He resolved to do more research about the ritual once he got back. He was sure about the fact that he would go back. There was no doubt that he could and he would escape. The arrival of the death eaters gave him the names of his enemies. His first test of Occlumency was a success. Voldemort tried to read him but he had sufficiently mastered Occlumency to immediately make his thoughts and memories to fade away. It helped to think like his memories were absorbed by shadows in his mind.

He did not want to give away any of his capabilities. All he had to do was escape. He didn't need to get flashy. He wanted Voldemort to underestimate him as much as possible. So he only used the _Expelliarmus_ charm. It was his luck that the wands connected. He noted that Voldemort was an ego maniac. He could use that in the future. But he had also observed that Voldemort was very clever. He had weakened Harry by using _Crucio_ before they dueled. He was glad to find that Voldemort's _Imperio_ did not affect him. In the end he had to use his physical capability a bit to avoid his curses. But he knew that Voldemort would scoff at it and take no notice of it since he was more pureblood oriented. He also came to a startling conclusion when he escaped – Voldemort feared him. Voldemort was afraid of his power and what it could develop into. Otherwise he would not have taken so many precautions.

Harry was very sad and a tad guilty about the death of Cedric. If he had used his full capabilities, he may have saved him. But he was disoriented after the portkey travel and it took him longer than most people to get his bearing right after that. He could not do anything about after it had been done. He put on an act of being a scared and shocked Gryffindor golden boy. He was little shocked but he was not afraid at all. It made no sense to fear the events that had already occurred and what was to come.

The revelation about Moody was surprising but it made sense. He was actually kicking himself to be lured into a trap so easily. But in his defense, he could say that he was again very disoriented by the portkey travel.

Before the year ended, he had seen Sirius again. It had reminded him of his wish to be an animagus. He looked up in both the school library and the chamber library. The modern books followed a long and painful method that only gave the user the form of the animal. All the powers and capabilities of the said animal were not available to the wizard if that procedure was followed. The procedure also made it impossible for anyone to have a magical animagus form.

The procedure mentioned in the book in the chamber was vastly different. The book was 2000 years old when ritual magic was more prominent. It gave a series of three rituals that would enable a person to become an animagus. The first ritual was fairly simple and it gave the wizard information about the animal he could become. The information was not complete if the animal was more magical but it gave the wizard a general idea about the animal. The second was slightly more complicated and required a few rare ingredients for a potion. At this point the wizard started to show the animal capabilities. The merging of man and animal would start after the second ritual. There might be violent changes in the wizard during this period as he had debatable control over himself. The animal influenced more than just his body. Emotions and thinking abilities were also affected. The third and last ritual required a part of the specific animal and was complex. This was to be performed when the wizard had merged with the animal completely. A rune from the second ritual would change indicating that it was time to do the third ritual. The third ritual calmed the soul of the wizard and made it accept the animal completely. The wizard and the animal would truly become one after the third ritual. Then and only then would the wizard make his first transformation. It was given that he could easily transform without pain after the third ritual. He was not supposed to do any transformation before the third ritual was done. This procedure did not suppress anything from the animal. Any and all magical capabilities and characteristics of the animal were transferred to the wizard.

Harry decided to do the first ritual before leaving. If he had time, he would even do the second before leaving since there was no time limitation between the first and the second ritual. But he did know anything about rituals. So he sought out a book explaining the basics of rituals. It was a very small book explaining the types of rituals and the dos and donts while performing a ritual. Since there was no school work to be done, he finished the book in two days. The others thought that he was depressed over the death of Cedric and he let them think that. It was stupid in his opinion. What was the point in moaning over Cedric's death? He hardly knew him. He was sorry that he was dead but that was the extent of his sympathy.

The first ritual required three runes and a simple potion. It was a mildly hallugenic potion used to induce a serene state in the mind. It was a blood magic ritual since he needed to use his blood. He found a ritual room in the chamber. He drew a pentacle with his blood he stood naked in it. He drew one rune on the ground he stood on, one rune in the centre of his forehead and one rune in the air above him with his blood. The magic in the room increased when he drew the runes. He was happy that he did not have to cut the runes on his skin. It would be painful and he did not yet have the skill to perform such a ritual.

After the runes solidified and flashed, he chanted in old welsh for one minute. Then he drank the potion that he had prepared. He threw the flask out of the pentagram and started chanting in old welsh again. He continued to chant for a few minutes as magic condensed in the pentagram. At the last syllable of the chant, the magic was sucked into him.

He saw a vague vision of a magnificent animal. Its senses were feline. It had four legs and he could make out that it was very big. He could also make out that it was heavily magical and there were many anomalies. He got a vision of vague black fur and long claws. That was the extent of the information he could gleam from the ritual. He was ecstatic at the discovery. He was overly enthusiastic that night with Fleur. She was set to leave that weekend and they spent their nights together without fail. He told her he was happy to have figured out something very important. She was intelligent enough o not ask about it.

After Fleur left, he had three more days before the holidays started. So he decided to do the second ritual also. The rare ingredients were all present in the chamber lab under preservative charms. The potion required his complete concentration to brew. The steps of brewing involved using three different stirring rods and also changing the cauldron in the middle. It took him six hours of uninterrupted work to complete the potion. He could not make out the nature of the potion from the ingredients. It was far too complicated. He was afraid to think of the complexity of the potion he had to brew for the final ritual.

Again he used the ritual room in the chamber. This set of animagus rituals required only pentagrams. It was relatively simple compared to other rituals in the books. He drew the pentagram again with his blood. He had to use a blood restorative potion a day before to get his blood levels up after extracting enough blood for the ritual. The runes for this ritual were also simple. But he to cut a few runes on his skin. He kneeled down and made the cuts. He had to use a cleansed ritual knife for this. Thankfully he found it in the potion lab. The first rune was cut on his forehead. The second and third runes were on his shoulders. It was painful but manageable. The fourth and fifth were on the back his palms. It was difficult to cut the runes specifically with his left hand but he somehow managed. The next two runes were along his waist. Three runes were cut along the waist. The last two runes were on the heels on each foot. It was probably the most painful part of the ritual.

After he completed cutting runes, he drank the disgusting tasting potion. He needed to wait until the potion traveled to all parts of his body. The magic in the blood would enable the potion to travel to all the runes that were cut on the body. Once all the runes sported the purple color of the potion, he started chanting. It was more of a summoning ritual and hence the chant reflected the same. He had to chant the same line again and again until the magic would tell him to stop. He felt the runes throb with magic. The pentagram contained the magic from escaping. After thirty three chants, the runes vanished into his body and the magic dissipated in the pentagram. He stopped chanting and collapsed from the pain.

It was a short ritual but was painful. He didn't consciously feel anything but pain. It felt as though someone or something was attacking his magic. But the he felt the strangest thing. It was as though his magic was a shell and it was not what the magical presence was looking for. It seemed as though there was something hidden underneath his magic. He felt his magic give way and then the attack stopped and sunk beyond his magic. It was as though there was something else inside him and that his magic covered it. He didn't know what to make of it. One the attack sunk inside his magic, the pain stopped.

He didn't have much time to do anything about it though. He couldn't risk taking those kind of books to the Dursleys. He never knew what would become of his belongings at the Dursleys. They might take it all away and destroy them at any moment.

The holidays were boring. Now since Voldemort was back, he had decided to train in earnest. He would keep it a secret from Dumbledore of course. So one night he snuck out of the Dursleys using his invisibility cloak. He used the knight bus from a few blocks away to go t Leaky Cauldron. He did not put it past Dumbledore to have him watched at his relatives' house.

He had always got along well with Madame Malkin. So he went in there and when she was alone, he removed his cloak. He explained a bit – that he wanted to prepare himself because Voldemort was back and that no one was helping him. She thankfully believed that Voldemort was back unlike others as he had seen in the Daily prophet. She put a strong glamour charm over him. His hair was now longer and it was a dark brown in color. His eyes were blue and his skin was a bit darker. She also put an illusion on his glasses so that it seemed as though it was not there. She also gave him a robe and put an illusion on it making him seem a lot older than he was. He thanked her profusely and asked her to keep it a secret. He promised to pay her when he got back from Gringotts.

He withdrew a lot of money from his vault and gave the goblin 10 galleons so that he would not tell anyone that he was there. Money talks was the rule with the goblins as long as it did not go too far from the principles of the bank.

His first stop was the trunk store. He looked for a trunk that looked exactly the same as his which had special features. It was not difficult considering that he had bought a general trunk that all first years bought. The trunk had a secret second compartment. It could be opened by pressing two indentations on either side of the latch. It was simple yet no one would expect it. As an added precaution, he asked the shopkeeper to put a recognition ward on it. The shopkeeper was surprised at the request since not many knew about wards in general. The second compartment was twice as deep, twice as wide and five times as long as the first compartment. It meant that it was not too deep to access standing up. He could use it similar to the first compartment without anyone being wiser unless they were directly looking into the trunk. He also had the owner make it feather light and shrinkable on verbal command.

The next destination was Knockturn alley. He wanted something to obscure his magic. He searched among many shops. He found a variety of shops that sold everything; be it potions, ritual equipments, books, knick knacks, clothes, exotic animals, bars etc. The alley was not as bad as it was portrayed. The few alleyways at the start of the alley were purposefully kept like that to discourage bigoted customers. The rest of the alley was pretty clean albeit a bit dark.

He found a bracelet that masked the magic performed. It had to be worn on the wand arm while performing magic. Even with this he suspected he would not be able to practice magic inside the house. He suspected that there were wards on the house that showed when any magic was performed. He was not sure what kind of ward it was but it didn't matter if he did the magic or someone else did. The Dobby incident was proof of that. But he had found a nice secluded place in the park near privet drive that was hidden to prying eyes. He could place some basic notice me not and muggle repellent wards and practice to his heart's content. They were basic wards and he had studied them before. They were fairly easy to cast.

He also bought an icebox with pre prepared meals. He did not want to starve at the Dursleys again. Dudley was going on a diet and he expected to get even less food that he used to before. He put all his new purchases in his new trunk. Anything else wasn't that interesting or that necessary for him. Besides he had to get back to Privet Drive before people noticed he was gone. So he paid Madame Malkin and got back to Privet Drive using the knight bus again.

The next few weeks went by normally. He practiced magic in the park and continued his physical exercises. He was glad for the bulky school robes. They hid his body well. During the holidays, he wore castoffs from Dudley which were way too big. It was also effective in concealing his body. He did not want anyone to suspect his capabilities even the tiniest bit. He could use all the advantage he had.

He had fun taunting Dudley at every chance he got. He observed that he was a bit more playful in general and very cold when angered. This was not how he was before. He thought that this was due to the animagus rituals he had done. It was the influence of his animagus form. So his form was generally playful but very cold when angered.

The dementor incident was baffling. He couldn't decide if it was pure luck of the Dementors or if someone sent them after him. Not many people knew where he lived during the summer as he had observed. The _lumos_ spell working on his wand when he didn't have it on hand was very shocking. He thought about it later and tried to do it again. He realized it was desperation that made it possible. So he focused hard to make it happen again. He hoped this was some form of wandless magic. He had read that wandless magic was practiced by mages two millennia ago. In a way, runic magic was wandless. He had to draw runes for the rituals with his blood by hand and not using the wand. He was successfully able to cast _lumos_ out of his wand without touching it. He tried to make light come out right out of his hand but he was unsuccessful. He could not do completely wandless spells. He tried another simple fire charm _ignite_ and was able to get similar results. A small flame was produced at the wand tip when he was not touching it. He tried a bit more complex spell, the stunner. He could not get it to work.

He was really annoyed that he did not use his bracelet to mask the magic. He had left the bracelet at home. He was worried a bit receiving the letter that his wand was to be destroyed and that he was expelled from Hogwarts. The subsequent letters calmed him. He was afraid of losing access to the chamber so soon. He had so much to learn still. While reading the letter from Arthur Weasley that Dumbledore was sorting the issue out, he realized Dumbledore might not have intended that the events of the last year to happen the way they did. He might have allowed the first and the second tasks since he was present for them but he could never have allowed the resurrection to happen this soon. Dumbledore did not know where he was and he had no one looking after him. And he noticed that Dumbledore seemed extremely relived when he came back.

Talking with his aunt was informative and it made him angry that she knew about many things and never told him. The Order of the Phoenix members were an odd group. The Grimmauld place was disgusting. He frankly did not mind quiet dark places but he could not tolerate filthy places. Everything was so dirty and there were so many infestations. He was not a neat freak by any means, in fact he likes to throw things in his room and clean up once a week; but this was beyond even his tolerance.

He was glad to be staying with his friends and Sirius. He was angry at his friends for not contacting him during his stay at the Dursleys. He observed that he got angered very easily. He wanted to lash out at others for the simplest things. He attributed this to his animagus form. He hoped it would merge soon.

Harry explored the house when everyone was asleep. It was an old manor and it would have many things he was sure. He found a large weapons room, a library, a lot of rooms, a room full of paintings etc. He practiced magic in the weapons room and also did the physical exercises in there.

One alarming thing he found while practicing magic was that his magic was fluctuating. It would be strong for a few minutes and then it would be extremely weak for some time. He did not know why this was happening. He did not want to ask anyone. He looked in the library for books explaining why such things happened but he did not find a suitable book. The books in the library were concentrated on the dark side of magic.

He made an awesome find in the library though. It was a book written by a Black family member explained Grims. This was his animagus form. Everything fit. It was a humongous bear like dog. But its instincts and mindset was entirely feline. The body was canine but the reactions were feline. It was the only animal which had a blend of two different species. Generally canines were more powerful than felines but felines had better fighting instincts and capability than canines. A Black family head had created Grims about 1500 years ago. It was a secret of the Black family. An ancient magical bloodhound which was about to be extinct 1500 years ago was ritually combined with a black saber tooth which was also magical. It was an extremely complex ritual that could not be performed now because it required live specimens of both which were extinct. The resulting body was bigger than the original hound and saber tooth. The animal was stronger in every sense than both and had developed an ability to manipulate shadows. It had the body of a very large hound but it had hidden claws and saber tooth's instincts and fighting capability.

The rumors of them guarding graveyards and that their sighting meant death were falsified. The real magical power of a Grim was shadow magic. It could manipulate shadows to do their bidding. They could bind people using shadows and travel in shadows too. It was given in the book that not all powers of the Grim were documented. The Grim was generally a very playful creature but when angered, it was extremely vicious. The Black family head did another ritual to bind the Grims to his bloodline. It would ensure that any person having Black blood would be able to command the Grims. He saw that the Grims were awesome animals. So he decided to do another ritual. This was an extremely dangerous ritual that changed the animal in his core with a Grim. He wanted to be a Grim animagus. He succeeded but only barely. His core did not stabilize with the new animagus form and he died while doing the third animagus ritual. But it was documented that his grandson was able to become a Grim animagus with no problems. He explained that it was the most wonderful thing. That grandson was a bit of a prankster and did not explain the magical effects of having a Grim animagus. He had written in the book that it was up to the wizard to find the benefits.

Another descendent of Black had added a bit more interesting information about Grim animagus. He wrote that the rituals done by Black family head who had created the Grim had changed the family's animagus ability. All Black's from then on had a dog animagus or a feline animagus. They were all non magical but the forms were large. He postulated that this was due to the close connection between Black blood and Grims. He also theorized that having the Grim as animagus form was nigh impossible because the power required to have such a form was immense. And also, there were not enough Black's with the proper mindset to become a Grim. Being playful, caring and yet vicious and deadly was a near impossibility. This anomaly of characteristics was difficult to find in humans. And it was the characteristics and power of an individual that decided the animagus form. The grandson mentioned in the book had the right mind set and had the power to manage a Grim form. Incidentally, till the last update over 600 years ago, all Blacks had animagus forms. This was also kept a secret in the family since animaguses were very rare in any era.

Harry was a little perplexed when he confirmed that his animagus form was a Grim. Then he remembered that purebloods often married amongst themselves. It was almost confirmed that he had Black family blood in him along with Potter blood.

Harry transferred the contents in his old trunk to the new one. He then took the old trunk to the weapons room and destroyed it. He put a lot of books from the Black library into the secret second compartment along with the book on Grims. He wanted to study the books that explained dark magic in detail before attempting it. There were a few good books on battle magic also.

As a backup, Harry had looked up laws and loopholes to get cleared in the trial in case Dumbledore did nothing. But he was sure that Dumbledore would do something to get him off. After all, he needed the Boy Who lived. He was proved true. The only surprising and annoying thing was that Dumbledore refused to meet his eyes. He wanted to test his improved Occlumency against Dumbledore. It had held up against Voldemort and Dumbledore was the only other person worthy of being pitted against.

He had practiced the advanced form of Occlumency too. He learnt to let some memories remain and let all other memories fade into shadows. It was somewhat fitting that he used this form of Occlumency since his animagus form could manipulate shadows. He had not started to learn Legilimency yet.

The fifth year was one long torture for him. His magic was sporadic and abuse was heaped on him. The public had turned against him again. He pulled through Umbridge's detentions as he was sure that other people in the castle knew about it. He did not want to be the only one without scars. Privately, he had looked up how to heal them in the chamber library. He had already brewed the scar remover and he decided to wait until the scars on others faded before using it.

Snape's Occlumency lessons were a joke and he immensely enjoyed himself fooling him. He gave Snape the memories he wanted to see, Dursley abuse, Cedric's death and other humiliating memories. He let those memories be and made all other memories fade into the shadows. Snape's logic of building a mental wall to stop intrusions was a bit stupid. The modern Occlumency books followed that principle but Harry didn't like it. He could easily fool people with his kind of Occlumency. He had mastered the last aspect of old type Occlumency after arriving at school. It was creating fake memories and make them believable. He started out small and then had it master by the time of Valentine's day. But still, having your mind broken into every time by Snape was not a pleasant experience. He didn't have to fake having a headache afterwards entirely.

The pensive incident where he say his father humiliate Snape was interesting. He had a good look at his parents and friends. He was not entirely sure that being left alone in his office was an accident. Snape could have ordered Malfoy to come and get him. Besides, Snape never left him alone in his office before. He was not actually that concerned about seeing his father in a slightly bad light. If he himself did the things he thought about, he would have been more vicious and more arrogant than James Potter. His rivalry with Snape was similar to his rivalry with Malfoy. Actually he was glad to his father like that. Everyone around him made his parents seem like angels with no faults. After the pensive incident, he knew that his parents were human. They too had faults.

He acted like the clueless teenager with Cho since this was supposed to be his first girl experience. He found her pathetic. He could understand her grief over losing Cedric but it made sense to flirt with him and then cry all over him. He paid her no mind. She was just a pretty face in the crowd. She had no substance.

The DA was a mistake and he knew it. But lately, he came to suspect that either Ron or Hermione or both were reporting his actions to Dumbledore. Dumbledore knew too many things that he should not. He knew things that were personal. He was sure that Dumbledore had not used Legilimency on him since he refused to meet his eyes. So went along with what Hermione had planned. He was not going to teach them much though. If they wanted to learn, they should have the guts to ask Dumbledore for a better defense professor or learn it by themselves.

He made a show of learning some spells for the DA with Hermione while actually he was reading books that explained dark magic. He learnt that dark magic was emotion based magic. It required malicious intent to cast such spells. Harry knew he had enough anger and vindictiveness to cast such spells. But he also read that true dark magic manipulated his emotions in turn. Continuous casting of true dark magic distorted his emotions and made the user crave for the dark emotions. He deduced that true dark magic was different from battle magic. Bu the ministry had grouped both the category of spells as dark magic. He suspected it was due to the power available in the battle magic spells. Thus he decided to abandon learning any form of true dark magic. He read the theory of course. He wanted to know how to defend himself. But there was no way in hell he was going to practice any true dark magic.

His magic fluctuated in the most inappropriate of times. He was having doubts about the second animagus ritual. It seemed as though there was a continuous struggle with his magic. He could cast spells with ease without incantations and movements when the magic was strong. But it was a struggle to make his magic work when it was weak. Thankfully those episodes were short and very infrequent. He thought that his magic was having troubles merging with his animagus form.

The room of requirement was another clue that someone was guiding him from behind the scenes. There was no way that Dobby could just pop up and say where to practice. There were too many coincidences regarding Dobby just happening to be there when he required something important.

He found it amusing that he easily fooled Hermione's contract for the DA. He did not actually write his name on it at all. He just wrote his name in the air and then cast an illusion on the parchment that showed his name. The parchment already contained many spells, what was one more.

Christmas was eventful. He was surprised about Arthur's attack. He thought he could block Voldemort from his mind but he realized that Occlumency was useless against the link. Occlumency protected him from outside attacks but the link was already inside his mind. Besides that it was an enjoyable Christmas. He took strong notice of Ginny's forwardness in confronting him when he was disgruntled. He was attuned to her but this was a refreshing change in her behavior. He knew she had a sharp tongue and a devious brain but she was too shy in front of him before. It was good that she was getting over that obstacle. She was going to be a bomb when she grew up and was already showing signs of it too. He would consider seducing her if she had truly gotten over her hero worship of Boy Who Lived. He respected women and girls. He did not want her to feel obligated to accommodate him because he had saved her before.

The attack on Arthur confirmed to him that there was a prophecy regarding him and Voldemort. He could deduce that the Order was protecting some important information and a weapon. The information had to be something like a prophecy or something about a really powerful artifact. The weapon was obviously him. He had been used as a weapon by Dumbledore every year at school and tested as one too. No one else among his friends had made this connection though.

It was only due to pressure from Hermione that he gave the interview for the quibbler. The expulsion from Quidditch was awful. Flying was his release from troubles. It was one activity that helped him relax and where he showed his full talent. He loved to fly on his firebolt. He was extremely angry with Umbridge for that. He was only annoyed with her efforts with the decrees before but this was too much. He truly understood the viciousness of his animagus form when he considered the grisly nature of thoughts regarding Umbridge. He wanted to main her and ruin her completely. He wanted to hurt her so bad that she had to beg for his mercy. He wanted her to be terrified of him.

The removal of Dumbledore from Hogwarts was a big relief for him. He could practice and learn new magic in the chamber with a bit more ease. Malfoy was even more irritating. The other students not believing him and not wanting to be with him was also a bonus. He preferred to be alone.

Harry found Hermione to be a tad irritating. She was obsessed with control and she had a blind faith in authority even after having seen the minister's actions. She was amazingly close minded regarding some things. Her campaign to free house elves was a waste of time. He knew how dumb they were and there was no way they would even understand what she was doing. The treatment of elves could have been better but he knew that elves loved to serve. Even a free elf like Dobby was eager to serve. Elves also had different view of life and magic. They did not deal with monetary exchanges between themselves. They did know about money but it was only due to their masters' transactions. In his mind, the whole thing was awfully similar to Voldemort's actions. She believed that house elves could not think for themselves and she wanted to override their beliefs and way of life. Voldemort also believed that muggleborns and muggles were useless and he wanted to force his views on them – their destruction. She thought she was above the house elves and Voldemort thought he was above normal witches and wizards. Both wanted to completely change the way of life of other beings. He dared not tell her his thoughts though.

His dreams of the corridor was disturbing. He knew it was not his dreams and he had no way of blocking them. He was pretty sure that Voldemort was inducing them and he had no clue that this was even possible before now. He searched in the chamber library and the restricted section of the school library but he did not find anything. There were too many books to go through and those that looked promising had no information.

After the history exam, he had that vision. He was not sure if it was real or not. He was sure it was given by Voldemort. He tried to verify it by flooing Grimmauld place. He even desperately tried to ask Snape. He thought being a member of the Order, Snape would confirm his suspicions. Besides he was also a death eater. He would know if Voldemort called him. Snape gave him absolutely no information.

He was surprised at Hermione's innovative thinking. He was actually thinking along the lines of somehow getting hold of a wand and blasting them all to kingdom come. Sirius was family dammit. And family always comes first. He was the one who was truly in his corner. Not Dumbledore's or anyone else.

The behavior of Neville and Luna were surprising. It seemed that they too were hiding something. He was suspicious of them and decided that he could look into it later. Ginny's actions were what he had expected. She was feisty and wanted to be involved in things.

The fight in the department of mysteries was a very difficult test for him. When he realized that he would be watched by not only death eaters, but his friends as well, he had to downplay his knowledge. Anyway, he had never really fought a magical battle before. The incident with Voldemort at the graveyard was a duel; it was more restricted with rules and all. This was a fight pure and simple.

He had to resort to the spells he had taught the DA and some physical fighting. It was a real test of quick thinking and good judgment. He was a little suspicious when Neville performed so well. Even in the DA, Neville never showed much skill or power. He never had the backbone to argue with Harry before then either. This Neville was forceful and very determined even after he had lost his wand. But he chalked it up to adrenalin and the reflex reactions of the mind. In dire situations, the human mind concentrates only on one thing – survival.

Harry thought that the others were really not that good. It was clear that the death eaters were trying to capture them and not hurt them. Who had seen the death eaters use stunning and disarming spells when they usually used the unforgivables or the dark arts? He was honestly surprised by Luna. She was the most uninjured one till she was taken out of the fight by surprise. It was a bit surprising but he knew she was intelligent and resourceful. She had been one of the more promising students in the DA.

His attempt at _Crucio_ was a mistake and he knew it. It was foolish to try it but he was not really thinking properly. Sirius had been the only one who he could depend and she had killed him. In a way, he thankful that it did not work. He did not want to be enticed by the dark magic. He was not sure how his link to Voldemort would influence him if he ever tried any dark magic.

Once Dumbledore appeared to fight Voldemort, he was sure that Dumbledore was manipulating him. All his doubts and suspicions of the previous years were confirmed. Dumbledore could have easily come to help him before Voldemort launched the killing curse at him. He had spent quite a few minutes fighting with Bellatrix and then talking with Voldemort. The apparition wards were down. So Dumbledore could have easily stopped his fight with Bellatrix too but he didn't do that.

The fight between Dumbledore and Voldemort was very informative. Harry had the skills that they had but he did not have the knowledge. He could already do wordless and movement less magic using his wand. Both of them never uttered a single spell unless you can count Voldemort shouting the killing curse in anger. But the spells and the shields used were very powerful. He could almost feel the power. Another important thing he noted was the dueling styles of both Voldemort and Dumbledore. Dumbledore relied heavily on Transfiguration for his defense and medium level battle arts and complex charms and curses for offense. Voldemort almost always used the dark arts for offence and low level battle magic for defense. Voldemort's style screamed power. Dumbledore's magic had a finesse to it that was unmatchable. Dumbledore never wasted any of his available magic. Low level summoning and transfiguration required less power than complex shields and they were just as effective. Voldemort was a lot more destructive than Dumbledore and he looked to overpower his opponent. There was no mistaking the smooth movements of both the combatants. Both were very experienced and they had probably dueled each other countless times.

The possession from Voldemort taught him a few things. It was a terrifying experience. The pain was beyond even the crucio. It was as though his soul was writhing in agony. For the first time in his life, Harry was truly in unbearable pain. He had faced and conquered pain before but this was agony beyond measure. He also knew that Voldemort was a snake animagus of some sort. There was no way that the urges to bite Dumbledore all year and then the feeling of coils pressing him during possession could mean anything else. It also taught him that Voldemort learnt something about him that surprised him. He definitely did not stop possession of Harry because he was pushed out. How much ever Harry wanted to believe that he had pushed out Voldemort, he could not. When Harry taught of Sirius, Voldemort gave a pause and then voluntarily retreated. The very thought of Sirius seemed to trigger something in his magic and Voldemort felt that.

The sight of bumbling Fudge was a vast difference to what he had faced before. If he were not so much in pain and disoriented, he might have laughed at Fudge.

The way he acted in Dumbledore's office was entirely due to his rage and sorrow of losing Sirius. There was guilt too. He was tired of the secrets he had kept from other and he was tired of the secrets that other kept from him. There were so many things that had gone wrong for him and this was the final stroke. It was a nice stroke from Dumbledore to lock him in his office to force him to hear what he had to say. Destroying some of the instruments in the office was a bit of a release but fury still burned in him then.

As he heard Dumbledore try to explain his actions, his emotions almost went haywire again. The part about Occlumency especially incensed him. He managed to calm himself before he lost himself again. He didn't believe the bullshit about Snape's actions at all. He knew there were many hours of difference between when he left Umbridge's office and reached the ministry. The Order would have had plenty of time to reach there before him. They had floo access and other means of communication as Dumbledore said. He again lost it when Dumbledore tried to lay some blame on Sirius. The succeeding discussion about Snape did nothing to calm his frayed nerves.

He had to hand it to Dumbledore, he was a masterful actor. His voluntarily explained that he had a plan for Harry but made it seem as though he was protecting Harry and caring for him while planning. He praised him about facing Voldemort and other dangers during his years at Hogwarts all the while apologizing for it. By telling him that he had planned for things to happen regarding Harry, Dumbledore hoped that Harry would accept it at face value and remove the suspicions that he might have had about his actions. He even admitted that he watched Harry more than anyone else. The bit about Petunia's acceptance and blood wards were farce and he knew it. There might be some blood wards but he doubted that they were powerful enough to stop anyone. He had never considered Privet Drive as home not had he claimed it as such at any given time. Besides, Voldemort had taken his blood to resurrect himself and he could easily void the blood protections.

Hearing the prophecy was a closure. His fears were true. There was a prophecy connecting him and Voldemort. It was all about him. He was the one to vanquish Voldemort. Dumbledore tried to soften the blow and made him accept that he was the one in the prophecy. It was all clear then. Dumbledore wanted him to accept the responsibility of killing Voldemort. During all the explanations, Dumbledore tried to come off as a caring person who always looked out for Harry. The last moments where he had a tear running down his face was a brilliant stroke. If Harry had not seen proof of Dumbledore's manipulations, he would have certainly believed that Dumbledore was his pariah, his mentor. But he knew better. There were too many inconsistencies and fallacies in Dumbledore's story.

In the next few days, he spent a lot of his time alone. Hermione was pestering him to talk about Sirius when he didn't want to and Ron was awkward to be around. He kept to himself and spent more time in the chamber thinking about stuff. He wondered if he could do the third animagus ritual yet but he was sad to see that it was not yet time. When he looked in the book explaining the process again, he saw that the time between the second and the third ritual depended upon how magic the animal was. The more magical the animal was, the more time it would take. He was also surprised but glad to find out that only he could see the runes on his body. It would have been awkward to explain them to Hermione and Ron when they saw his hand after detentions from Umbridge.

During this time, he also read about apparation and portkey creation. He was a bit wary to try apparation since there was no one to patch him up is he was splinched. But portkey creation was worse. The old books said nothing about it because portkeys were discovered about 550 years ago by Nicolas Flamel. All the books about apparation in the school library were in the restricted section. Pince kept a very close watch in the last days of the term and it would be too risky to try and get them. So he read about apparation in detail, hoping to find something in the old books.

What he did find in the old books surprised him. There were three levels of apparation or traveling as they called it in the old days. The first level was normal apparation. A person travels from one place to another. It would be easily warded against. The person felt as though he was passing through a thick rubber tube. It was uncomfortable but was also easily accomplished by any witch or wizard. The second level was sliding. Sliding was the means to travel within the wards. A person can slide along a ward and travel to any place within a warded area just like apparation. The last level was teleportation. This combined the first two levels. A person could travel to any place immaterial of the fact that the destination or the source was within a warded area of not.

Harry asked Hermione subtly about apparation when he visited her in the hospital wing. He figured she would have read all about it. She only talked about the first level of traveling, apparation. She did not know anything about sliding or teleportation. It seemed that the wizarding world had lost its knowledge or ability to travel using sliding and teleportation. He was once again reminded how grateful he should be for having found the chamber library. He resolved to learn all three levels. He was sure that there would be wards that could block sliding and teleportation as well. He had to read up on them to recognize them if he came across them.

Luna was a revelation on the last day. He felt for her. She tried to perk him up and he was grateful for that. Then right before they left, she cornered him again and asked when she could meet Harry. He was a bit shocked at her question and tried to come off as not understanding the question. But she persisted and told him that she would let Harry meet Luna and not Loony if he wished. He could not imagine how she had worked it out. He had been so careful to hide it from everyone else. He told her to keep it quiet and promised to talk to her next year about everything. It would be a relief to tell someone something. He was not looking forward to another explosion like the one that happened in Dumbledore's office. Maybe she would lessen his burden a bit.

It was heartening to see the show of support at the station by some member of the Order but he was not sure how effective it would be. He had a lot to think about now. Playtime was over. With a hidden gleam in his eye, Harry thought out to the world "Harry Potter was going to WAR".


	3. Slughorn and Burrow

**Chapter 3: Slughorn and Burrow**

The difference between what is written in a book and what was experienced is vast. Harry knew it first hand. He had read about the dangers of using dark magic and had decided to never practice it. But desperate times call for desperate measures. He had to use the Imperius curse on Crabbe's grandmother to save Amelia Bones. It had been a week since he had rescued Amelia Bones and he remembered the effects of using an unforgivable vividly.

At the time he cast the spell, he felt the euphoria of controlling another person. The pleasure of having a person totally under your control was intoxicating. It gave him a feeling of power that he had never felt before.

But, after using it, he felt so filthy. The curse was vile and he puked many times that night. He felt so impure that he puked at the thought of casting that curse again. His actions that night still haunted him somewhat. He was not used to directly kill people. He was the quissential good guy. Even though he was not Dumbledore's golden boy, he was still a good person underneath. That night resulted in three deaths because of him. They were all death eaters or sympathizers but they were still human beings.

But still it was a bit satisfying to tell Amelia Bones some of the things that he had kept secret over the years. Who knew simple talking would help so much. He resolved to talk to Luna the coming year. It would help him immensely. There was a general frustration in him that he was alone and could not talk to anyone. But he hoped Luna would ease that. He still had doubts if he should have shown Amelia some of his skills. Apparation was definitely something he had mastered very easily. That night was the first time he had used apparation and he did not get splinched at all. His mental fortitude made it possible.

The events of the night were a revelation to him. He felt filthy and remorseful over using a person like that. But it was necessary. He always did what was necessary. He was not naïve enough to believe that he could get through this war without killing. The prophecy stated that he had to kill Voldemort and it was a given that he would have to face an army of death eaters before getting to him. He resolved to do what was needed. If he had to harden his heart, then so be it. He vowed to never use an unforgivable again unless it was the direst of situations. But it was better he got the first kill business out of the way with some low level death eater. If he faced Voldemort and hesitated to kill, it would have been bad.

Harry was glad to get out of Privet Drive after just a fortnight with them. A lot had happened in the wizarding world after the incident at the department of mysteries. There was a new minister, a Rufus Scrimgeour who looked like an old lion in human form. The ministry was sending out leaflets to people about what to do in case of death eater presence or attack. The latest Harry Potter news was that he might be the chosen one to rid them of Voldemort. Well, for once they had been right.

Harry thought it was a trick. There would be no way that Dumbledore would let him out this early. He did tell him about recharging the blood wards at Privet Drive. So he was very surprised when Dumbledore actually came to get him. He hastily packed his trunk but stopped when Dumbledore came to the door. He had not warned the Dursleys.

Harry was a bit awed at the way Dumbledore masterfully took control of the conversation in the manner he wished and directed the conversation where he wished. He was very intrigued by the shriveled hand but he could not call him out on that. Dumbledore was uncharacteristically blunt in the conversation. He was trying to portray as though he was honest and was not holding back anything from Harry.

But Harry knew that wasn't the case. Dumbledore just informed him about the details of Sirius' will. Dumbledore didn't have him sign anything. Harry was sure that the primary beneficiary had to have a say and agree or witness the will. At least that was what he had read. And the bit about the house being opened only by a pureblood was pure hogwash. There was something that Dumbledore was trying to hide. Dumbledore didn't want him to go to Grimmauld place for some reason. Sure he gave an acceptable reason but it was still a reason. He would have to investigate this later.

Harry wanted to kill Kreacher in the most painful way but Dumbledore was present. He hid his fury and dealt with him. He acted as was expected of him – embarrassed for not having packed and a bit scared when Dumbledore's stare turned wintry at the Dursleys. Harry thought that Dumbledore was just trying to appease him by telling off the Dursleys. If he wanted to stop the abuse, he would have berated them and done something about the abuse long ago. He did not fall for this charade.

Side long apparation was even more horrid than normal apparation. He had never felt claustrophobic before this.

"Are you all right?" asked Dumbledore, looking down at him solicitously. "The sensation does take some getting used to."

"I'm fine," said Harry, rubbing his ears, which felt as though they had left Privet Drive rather reluctantly. "But I think I might prefer brooms..."

Dumbledore smiled, drew his traveling cloak a little more lightly around his neck, and said, "This way."

He set off at a brisk pace, past an empty inn and a few houses. According to a clock on a nearby church, it was almost midnight.

"So tell me, Harry," said Dumbledore. "Your scar... has it been hurting at all?"

Harry raised a hand unconsciously to his forehead and rubbed the lightning-shaped mark.

"No," he said, "and I've been wondering about that. I thought it would be burning all the time now Voldemort's getting so powerful again."

He glanced up at Dumbledore and saw that he was wearing a satisfied expression. "I, on the other hand, thought otherwise," said Dumbledore. "Lord Voldemort has finally realized the dangerous access to his thoughts and feelings you have been enjoying. It appears that he is now employing Occlumency against you."

"Well, I'm not complaining," said Harry, who missed neither the disturbing dreams nor the startling flashes of insight into Voldemort's mind. It might be useful but who wants a Voldemort radar on him that gives so much pain? Even though he was no stranger to pain, why ask for it willingly? There was also a subtle hint that he was not good enough at Occlumency and that this peace of mind was entirely due to Voldemort. He knew that wasn't the case. The connection simply prevented any form of Occlumency protection. Voldemort had found some other means to stop Harry from entering his mind. Only when Voldemort did not control whatever he was doing completely would Harry get visions now. It was proved when Harry had a vision about the attack plan for Amelia Bones. Voldemort was too gleeful then to properly shield himself from Harry. Harry did not get visions for the plans of other attacks like Vance.

The Budleigh Babberton was a strange place. Dumbledore told him that he would find a use for him to secure himself a staff member. Harry silently fumed. Used like a weapon and discarded when not needed. That was the story of his life. Well no more. Given a little more time, he would be ready for everyone.

For the next part of the conversation when they talked about Fudge, Scrimgeour and Amelia Bones, Harry was silently laughing to himself. Fudge was an idiot and Scrimgeour seemed to have met some of Dumbledore's expectations. He really cracked up mentally when Dumbledore put up a sad face when Amelia's supposed death was mentioned. He found it extremely satisfying to annoy Dumbledore with meaningless questions while he searched for his colleague. It was a bit distracting and irritating. But Dumbledore was calm.

Inferi were scary. He had never heard or read about them before. To know Voldemort used them freely was a horrible surprise. To him, it was disgusting to use corpses for your nefarious schemes. Voldemort didn't even leave the dead lie in peace. It was a sacrilege to disturb the dead.

Whoever the colleague Dumbledore was searching for was, Harry had to give him credit. The destruction was believable except for the fact that everything was destroyed such that they were instantly repaired. Nothing was destroyed permanently. The bit of blood would have been believable if there were blood stains on the floor or in other places.

Even though he knew the destruction was faked, he was honestly surprised at the human transfiguration performed by Horace Slughorn. He was an enormously fat, bald, old man. He had prominent eyes and big, silver, walrus like mustache. He was a rather short fellow wearing a maroon jacket and silk pajamas. He was unabashed over his attire or his deception.

Seeing them both seemingly correct the destruction with a wave of their wands, Harry thought it might be worthwhile to learn some household spells. His room was always the messiest. He liked things that way. Even at school, his dorm mates scolded him to clean his stuff up every week. But it was so easy to get anything he wished if things were available at hand. He couldn't help it if things got messy for that.

Slughorn's exclamations of "Oho" really irritated him. The rotund man was sharp. He immediately picked up the reason Harry was present. Dumbledore tactfully kept the conversation away from recruiting him after the initial inquiry. He talked about other inconsequential things. Slughorn's reaction to the blackened hand of Dumbledore and the ring resting in it were puzzling. It seemed as though he was trying to recall where he had seen the ring before.

Harry honestly thought that the both of them had forgotten about him. His chuckles when they talked about Umbridge drew their attention. This was when Dumbledore made his move.

Harry's succeeding talk with him made him want to rip the man. He was brash and did not care a whit about a person's feelings. He thought of people as something to be collected. He talked about Sirius callously only terms of talent and about his mother in the same collector like fashion.

At the first sign of Harry's anger, the man mistook that Harry thought he was against muggleborns. Harry didn't bother telling him the true reason he was angry at the man. Not with Dumbledore close by and no doubt listening to the conversation. But even Harry had to admit, this man was connected. He knew people everywhere. And it seemed as if he called in favors quite often too. Harry couldn't resist taking a jab at it.

Harry decided that enough was enough. It was about time he did what was expected of him again. He tried to convince Slughorn to return to Hogwarts even though he was almost derisive in his talk. Besides, Harry could use a man with connections like Slughorn. He had to somehow get the man in confidence during the next year. It shouldn't be too difficult since Slughorn was immensely interested in adding the Boy Who Lived to his collection. Harry almost snorted when Slughorn referred to the death eaters as death kilters. He didn't know what it meant but it sure sounded funny.

Dumbledore proved that he had indeed been listening to the conversation when he reentered the moment Slughorn agreed to come to Hogwarts to teach. Then he proceeded to bait Slughorn into agreeing properly. Harry found the portly man's actions very amusing. He would have fun playing this guy around.

Dumbledore's description of Slughorn cemented Harry's thoughts. Slughorn wanted to adorn his collection with the Boy Who Lived. He would play him nicely.

The second side long apparation was also a horrid experience. Harry was not at all surprised even though he acted as such when Dumbledore requested to talk to him privately.

The talk about Sirius was painful. Harry had thought about the ministry debacle a lot during the fortnight he was at the Dursleys. He was still very sad that Sirius was gone. He was the foremost father figure to him. But more than that, Sirius looked out for Harry first and everyone else next. Harry could not say that about anyone else he knew. Even Remus depended on Dumbledore a lot. For Sirius, the first consideration was his godson, Harry Potter and that was why Harry missed him so much. Harry had thought of revealing himself truly to Sirius this holiday if he had been alive. Harry had needed some adult support to pull off his plans but now, it was not possible.

Harry spoke passionately about taking how many ever death eaters and Voldemort before he was gone. It was true and it also played well into Dumbledore's intentions. Dumbledore praised him and patted him on his back as though he was a child who had made a very important discovery. Dumbledore seemed way too pleased about his admission.

He acted dumb when Dumbledore asked him about the chosen one business. He had thought about telling Ron and Hermione himself but not soon. But Dumbledore kind of insisted that he tell them. The promise of extra private lessons were to further appease him or Dumbledore had another agenda. This was troubling. He preferred not to have more contact with the headmaster this year. He wanted more time to himself to figure out his plans now that he didn't have Sirius's support. He noted shrewdly that Dumbledore did not exactly commit as to what he would teach him. Now Harry doubted that he would actually teach Harry anything.

Harry rolled his eyes at Dumbledore safety tips. His rebuke at insulting the Weasleys by doing something crazy was accepted with a mental sigh.

It was good to be back at the Burrow. It always had a homely feel. The warm greeting by Mrs. Weasley was comforting.

Seeing the vibrant, cheerful Tonks so subdued was shocking. Her usually bright pink hair and cheery smile was missing. She had a fake smile and mousy brown hair. She looked ill and refused the offer to get together with other people. She seemed to almost close up at the mention of Remus and Moody. Was there something wrong between any three of them?

Harry was glad he had grown the last term. His growth spurt had continued into the summer. His baggy clothes hid his toned body which had developed quite nicely due to his continuous physical exercises. Not starving at the Dursleys due to the icebox full of food in his secret second compartment helped. He wondered if he could continue exercising at the Burrow. He had to find a viable reason or manage not doing them somehow.

He was happy to know Hermione had arrived already. He liked to eat what Mrs. Weasley cooked. They were far tastier than what he cooked or the pre prepared meals in his icebox. The additional information of Slughorn was mildly interesting. He was really happy that Mr. Weasley got a promotion. It couldn't have happened to a better man. With the ministry full of corrupted or pureblood gits, it was good to know that people like Mr. Weasley existed.

Harry hardened heart was suspiciously soft to see the love and teasing between the Weasley parents. He was also very grateful for them when he was given the twins' room. It was a gesture that not even his blood family had done for him. The room just screamed twins' handiwork. There were scorch marks, cardboard boxes and the smell of gunpowder. He fell asleep with a gentle smile on his face.

His morning abruptly started with Ron hitting him. Ron and Hermione were hiding something from him but it was alright. He had more to hide than any of them. It really annoyed him that Hermione scrutinized him like a puzzle to solve. He saw the gleam in her eyes that said she would be happy to dissect him and patch him back together again. She wanted him to confess his feelings about Sirius. She thought she would help him with his grief. Obviously she had read many books about dealing with losing a loved one. He considered her his best friend but really, she placed faith in books and authority way too much.

Hermione's inquisitive nature was borderline obsession. She was very invasive and persistent even if a person refused her. The level of her curiosity was frightening. He would bet anything on the fact that if Hermione had an animagus form, it would most definitely be some sort of a cat. Just like Ron had inferiority complex, Hermione had the complex that she had to know everything. She also had the complex that she should be the one to solve any problem that they face. She desperately wanted to be the smartest witch of their generation whatever the consequences may be. In a way, her ambition in that regard was shrewder than a Slytherins.

She was also very bossy. This could be attributed to her parents. She had a very good support system in her childhood but her parents would have let her get away with everything. Being the only child and a daughter, she would have had too much leeway with everything. But all this had helped her in a way. She stood by him when no one did especially during the tournament. Her logical brain knew that he had not put his name in the goblet. She helped him when he should have needed help. Even though he was acting to be average, she helped him. It was scary that she was more worried about grades than loss of life but it was one of her quirks. But he couldn't complain. She had helped him in a few scrapes. He might have managed on his own but it was heartening to know that she would back him up even in dangerous situations. When she was out of her depth, she turned to him for the solution. She trusted him to lead her when she could not think of anything. She was practical and book smart but she was not realistic. Whatever she was, with all her faults and strengths, she was his best friend.

Ron was a brash, jealous and insensitive idiot. But he was also very loyal. His temper flared at everything and he had trouble controlling his impulses. He was the stereotypical Gryffindor. He hated Slytherins with a passion and refused to listen anything good about them. He could not see faults within him and got very surly when he was proved wrong. His idea of school was all play and little work. He was barely interested in studies and he was not all that intelligent. He was a good chess player but he sucked at strategy in real time situations. He was almost useless at the Ministry fight and even in the Shrieking Shack in their third year. He would never be a leader but he would be a damn fine follower.

Ron craved for money, fame and recognition. Harry knew that he could control himself in most cases but Ron did slip up many times. Ron's jealousy blinded him to the facts. He did not see the events that had caused Harry's fame and money. The cost of Harry's fame and money was the loss of his parents and the loss of his childhood. He did not understand what a big price that was to pay. Ron, like Hermione also had very good family support. If he was humble, he could have asked his many successful brothers for advice. They had experience and they could have guided him through anything. But no, he was a stubborn idiot. He did not value his family that much. Sure, he loved them and all but he was not that enamored with the idea of putting his family first above everything else. In that way, Harry respected Mr. Weasley more than any man he currently knew. Mr. Weasley strived hard to provide for his family while still doing what he liked. Harry was sure he could have been in a much better position in the Ministry if he wished and Harry knew that Mr. Weasley considered his family before anything else. It was so sad that Ron did not follow Mr. Weasley in this regard. Ron's many faults were covered by his courageous acts in Harry's defense and support. This was the reason that Ron was his other best friend.

Both Ron and Hermione trusted Dumbledore without question. That was the reason why Harry never revealed his secrets to them. They cared for him sure, but they were in awe of Albus Dumbledore, the next best thing to the wizarding world since Merlin. It was what was believed by most of the light side and general wizarding public.

Harry could make out that Hermione wanted to talk to him about Sirius. Ron just supported her even though he was uncomfortable. But they did not understand.

Sirius meant more to him than they could imagine. Both Ron and Hermione were brought up in loving families. They never had a childhood like him where abuse was regular and food was stolen if he didn't want to go hungry. He had no support in his childhood. From having no one to depend on to having a godfather who loved you was overwhelming. For an orphan starved for love, a father figure was a godsend. In a way, he realized that he loved Sirius more than his parents. He never knew his parents. He was proud of them for their achievements and their sacrifice. But Sirius was the one who was there for him to support him.

He shook his thoughts away as they discussed Slughorn a bit. But the moment Ginny came through the door, he realized he might have waited too long. He knew a year ago that Ginny would be a beautiful woman. He had a connection to her and he knew he had feelings for her. He was just waiting until she got a bit older and grew a little bit. But wearing robes everyday had hidden her progress of blooming into a beautiful girl.

She wore a white t-shirt that clung snugly to her breasts. The faded jeans that she wore seemed like she was poured into them. She had a slim waist and very nice ass. Her muggle clothes clearly showed her growth. Her pale skin and the deep red hair created a breathtaking combination. The few freckles that she had added to her attractiveness. He wondered if she had freckles all over her body. Amazingly proportioned for a girl of 15 years, she was a knockout. He had to get her and he would get her.

Fleur was a surprise. He had not kept in touch with Fleur that regularly. Their last communication was when he had sent her a Christmas present. Her presence was refreshing. She was still the picture perfect definition of beauty. Her long silvery blond hair, pale blue eyes and heavenly curves could charm anyone without using veela magic. He now wondered how many types of beauty were there. Ginny was one, Fleur was one. Who knows how many more he would discover.

He was surprised to hear about Bill and Fleur. He knew that she was interested in Bill after she saw him at the tournament but this engagement was too soon. But he could see how this match would work. Bill was a brilliant curse breaker and was the epitome of cool. He had charm and he was intelligent. Beneath the façade of a blond bimbo, Fleur was actually a very talented witch. It was no surprise that Gringotts hired her and he knew that goblins hire only the best. Fleur was also crafty and got what she wanted. Yes, this would be a great match.

He was a bit shocked that the rest of the Weasley family did not share his opinion. It seemed that Fleur had only shown her dumb blond side to them. He was really shocked when he heard that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had eloped. It was a big thing in their day to elope.

Ginny's name for her, "Phlegm" was insulting and he wished Fleur didn't hear others saying that behind her back. Ron still looked like a sick dog. He had absolutely no resistance to the veela charm. He just couldn't understand their objections. Wasn't it right that if two people desired to be together, they had a right to be together. It wasn't fair that others try to break them up.

When Hermione acted like she had deduced Tonks' reason for being sad and was harried that Tonks couldn't understand it, Harry wanted to curse her badly. She had read about survivor's guilt and had no doubt tried to get Tonks to open up. Was Tonks some kind of charity case to her? Would she do the same to him? He had survived too, hell they all had. Does that mean all of them had survivor's guilt? She had not lost anyone close to her to know how it felt to have their world ripped from under them. So she could only refer to what she had read. She simply couldn't believe that a book could be wrong. She never had a realistic view of life. It was all divided into the levels and layers of knowledge she could gain from it.

He was happy to know the success of the twins. He was irritated when Hermione quoted Dumbledore. Really! Her faith in authority and books was so overrated.

There was a chance to tell them the prophecy and he took it. Dumbledore would check them in some subtle way if he had not told them. Their reactions were not unexpected. Hermione was pitying him still trying to make him confess about his emotions on the prophecy. Ron was eager and jealous about the lessons and completely disregarded the prophecy after the initial shock.

Harry found it extremely amusing to watch how quickly Hermione wound herself up. One mention of O.W.Ls and she was running around asking annoying questions. He saw a wicked gleam in Fleur's eyes as she appreciated the black eye Hermione had courtesy of Fred and George. Hermione was very rude when Fleur tried to calm her down trying to explain Beauxbatons educational system.

Harry's results weren't bad. He had scored:

A in Astronomy

E in Care of Magical Creatures

E in Charms

O in DADA

P in Divination

E in Herbology

D in History of Magic

E in Potions

E in Transfiguration

He knew it did not reflect his real ability. He personally felt that O.W.Ls were a joke. They tested students for perfect wand movements and incantations. Anyone can learn them from a book if he had the least bit of intelligence. The marks were based on book knowledge and not the actual magical ability. He felt that if there were tests, they should test the magical capability of every student. He could easily perform movement less and wordless magic. It was known that it was better but they don't test it. People were not tested for their mastery of magic.

Even then, he had not performed to the best of his knowledge. He wanted to still hide the fact he was quite intelligent. But he did want to have good grades. He nearly gave it away. If it were not for the interruption in Astronomy and History of Magic exam, he might be suspected. He was expected to get outstanding there. Nobody considered the Divination scores anyway. In all other subjects, he had gotten a steady "E". It would have been abnormal to see and have all Es and one O in the list. He was glad that he got away with that mistake before anyone realized it.

He again saw the competitive and slightly resentful gleam in Hermione's eyes when she learned that she got an E for DADA where as he had gotten an O. She was known as the smartest witch of the generation and wanted to keep it that way. He did not even care about these stupid tests and she was getting worked up over these.

Harry really did not want to work as an auror for the ministry after having seen the corruption and incompetence. He thought maybe he could play Quidditch professionally or open some business. He was sure he had enough money from Sirius and his parents for that.

But his future would have to wait until he dealt with Voldemort and Dumbledore.


	4. One Last Time

**A/N:** I am sorry I cannot do Fleur's accent. It takes too long to use her accent.

**Chapter 4: One last time**

The second night Harry was present at the Burrow, he got a surprise visitor.

Harry was always a pretty aware sleeper. He had learnt to ignore sounds from his dorm mates but any external sound would wake him up. Tonight was no exception. He was ignoring the general snores permeating the Burrow but the sound of his door opening woke him up.

Harry instantly grabbed his wand from his bedside and pointed it at the intruder. Almost immediately he dropped it "Fleur?", he called out in shock. He was assaulted with the full strength veela charm as soon as he looked at her.

"Yes Harry darling, it is me", she replied seductively.

"What is the matter Fleur? What are you doing here?" Harry asked.

"There was a time when you would have welcomed me without any questions Harry. Am I not good enough anymore?" she asked sporting a cute pout that Harry found almost impossible to resist. She came beside him and sat on the edge of the bed.

"That was a time when you were not engaged to Bill Fleur", he said dryly.

"Come on Harry darling, don't be like that", she purred. She ran her hand though his bare chest.

She had come with the intention of seducing him. She was wearing an almost see though night robe. He could see her blue bra and thong. The swell of her breast and the curves of his hips weren't hidden in any way. The robe was tied tight at her abdomen showing her flat stomach and smooth legs. Nothing was left for imagination. If it was anyone else but Harry Potter, they would have been drooling at the offer by this heavenly beauty.

"We cannot do this Fleur. Bill's a great guy", Harry protested. He mentally fortified himself resisting the alluring nature of the veela and caught her wandering hands.

"He is the guy I am about to marry Harry but he cannot satisfy me like you can. Please darling, you know how sexual the veela are. Just one more time before I get married. I need a good release. And now you have developed such a good body that I simply cant resist. Let me play with your hard body darling. I need it", Fleur implored with puppy dog eyes.

"Sorry Fleur. Just ask Bill to get more adventurous. He is a curse breaker, he will surely agree to try out something radical", Harry replied strongly.

"No Harry darling, it is not the nature of sex that I crave. William can resist my charm during most times without any problems. But while having sex, you know my veela charm is amplified. William cannot control himself when I orgasm. Only you could control yourself at all times around me and give me great orgasms. Come on darling, please", she said as she tried to persuade him. She leaned against him trying to make him fall back on the bed. Her impressive cleavage was pressed against his arms. Her voice was low and seductive giving her the air of an angel begging to commit a sin.

"How will you manage when you are married? And cut out the charm. You know it wont work on me. I have stronger will than that." Harry replied as he held her in place with her sitting on the edge of his bed leaning against him.

Fleur let out a tinkling laugh, "You are right that you have more will than the rest of these silly little boys. Fred and George are trailing after me whenever they are home. Ronald is the worst. He drools and his eyes go vacant whenever I am near. I do not even use my charm. He is disgusting. But Harry darling, enough about them. Please help me one last time Harry."

Harry grinned and replied, "Okay Fleur. One last time. But, not now and definitely not here. I don't want others to know and I have too much respect for the Weasleys to have sex with you here. I will arrange something in a few days and tell you. And go easy on Ron will you? He is my best friend but even I know he has no mental fortitude."

Fleur smile beautifully and kissed him on both his cheeks. She then kissed him soundly on the lips. The kiss was passionate and sweet. Her lips were as soft as he remembered and her kiss was as stimulating as before. "Thank you Harry. But make it soon, I cannot hold on much longer", she said sensually as she sauntered out of the room giving him a great view of her swaying backside.

Harry had a raging hard-on now. He had not had sex with anyone in over a year and he was very randy. Cold showers and bath room activities only helped so much. He hoped to change it this year with Ginny. He was very much tempted to call back Fleur and fuck her senseless after securing the room. But he couldn't have sex with her here. Anyone might find them. Even if they did not, he could have a clear conscience if he had sex with her in the Burrow.

He had to arrange something soon. He had to convince everyone to let him be for himself for a night and somehow include Fleur in the plans. It would be difficult enough to get permission from Order to go and it would be even more difficult is he had to find some way for Fleur to come to him on their watch. He could easily sneak out and arrange everything. He could even sneak out to have sex with her but it would bring more attention to him. The Order and Dumbledore would then keep a closer eye on him and he couldn't afford that.

XXXX

The wonderful smell of Mrs. Weasley's cooking woke up Harry the next morning. He got up, brushed his teeth and showered before going downstairs. A great breakfast later, Harry was put to task in cleaning the house. He didn't mind as it allowed his mind to wander and do something to pass time without raising any alarms among whoever was watching him.

Harry had decided to wear his magic masking bracelet all the times during the holidays. Harry also decided that he should get to know Ginny better a bit before seducing her. He hadn't really talked to her about her or her interests but she had spirit. His last year's emotional imbalance not withstanding, she was probably one of the very people who could read him fairly well. She would figure out his irregular activities sooner or later. Besides she was already a very beautiful girl and he had wanted her for quite sometime.

So, after cleaning around the house, he accosted her in the evening.

"Hey Ginny, care for a walk?", he asked casually leaning against the door frame of the living room where she was sitting.

She looked up with questioning eyes and stared at him speculatively. After a second of intense scrutiny, she relaxed and said, "Sure Harry lets go."

Thankfully Ron wasn't there in the living room to make a fuss out of this. In fact no one was there. Twins were at the shop, Ron and Hermione were off somewhere, Mr. Weasley, Bill and Fleur were at work and Mrs. Weasley was in the kitchen.

Ginny was wearing ripped jeans and a loose t-shirt today. Her hair was in a loose ponytail and she looked great. After walking in silence for a few minutes, Harry asked her, "You look gorgeous today. What is the occasion?"

"Nothing Harry. You just weren't observant enough to notice true beauty when you see one" she said flippantly even though he could see a tinge of pink in her cheeks.

"Oh! It doesn't have anything to do with a classmate of mine named Dean, does it?", Harry teased her.

Ginny looked a bit confused and then replied airily "Maybe. Maybe not. But why are you asking Harry? Are you jealous?", she teased him back.

"Of course not. I know what will happen once we return to school. It is just a matter of time before you two break up. Then I can have my wicked way with you", he replied with a smug grin.

"Confident are you?", she asked curiously.

"Very. Dean is a prick and you too will realize it soon enough. Besides, I am sure he cannot handle a spirited girl like you", he said confidently.

Ginny said thoughtfully, "You know Harry; I am not sure why I agreed to go out with him in the first place. I mean I was never attracted to him before and then suddenly, he comes out and asks me. I don't know what made me agree. And that bugger still hasn't written me a letter", she finished heatedly.

Harry was curious now. It was setting off some danger bells in his head. He would have to watch Dean more closely this year. But out loud he said, "Don't worry about it. You'll sort it out. Enjoy your summer. By the way, how is living with Fleur?" he asked, changing the subject.

Ginny wrinkled her nose in distaste, "Phlegm? Oh! Please. She is so annoying. Always puttering on about Bill and her beloved France. She is so pompous and flighty. I don't know what Bill sees in her."

Harry chuckled "Come on Ginny. Give her a chance. I wouldn't say she is pompous. It is solely reserved for Fudge." That brought a chuckle out of Ginny, "I actually got to know her a little during the tri wizard tournament. And I can tell you that there is something behind that classic dumb, flighty blond. There has to be something in her that Bill likes. You know he would not have proposed to simply anyone. He also is immune to her veela charm."

Ginny laughed at hearing that. The sound of her laughter was a very pleasant thing to hear. "Yes. The twins are always trailing after her, hoping to get a view of her more salient features. But Ron is the worst. He has no self control at all. I am sure if she smiles at him, he would do anything she asks."

Harry grinned at her, "You know your brothers very well. I wonder how the prim and proper Percy would have reacted to her."

Ginny's famous Weasley temper surfaced, "That prat!" she spat, "If he ever comes back, he will face more than just my bat bogey hex." She sighed and commented frustratedly, "Sorry there Harry. I just get worked up about him. But I think he will loose all his stuck up attitude in front of Phlegm." Here she got a devious glint in her eye as she spoke, "Maybe we can use Phlegm to humiliate him. She has her uses after all."

"Hey loosen up. Percy is a git and he will come around sooner or later. If not, well his loss. Forget about him for now" he said soothingly, squeezing her shoulder to comfort her.

She placed her hand on his and squeezed back. "You are right. But… what is this Harry? From when are you wearing bracelets?", she asked spotting his magic masking bracelet.

"It doesn't look that bad, does it? I got it at a thrift store in Surrey. I thought I might try it", he asked.

"No, no. It actually looks good. I wondered when you acquired a taste for them that's all", Ginny complimented.

Harry chuckled nervously "That is the extent of my tasteful shopping. I still have no idea about any kind of clothes." Just as soon as he said that, an idea hit him. He could make some time with Fleur if he could somehow convince the Order to let him shop for his clothes with her. He could reason with them that if he shopped with her in muggle France, no one would recognize him. Since death eaters never operated out of England, he would be safe. No one would even think of it. Dumbledore might just allow it as he thought that he needed to make up to Harry for the last year's mistakes. He could also play the pity card by telling them that Dursleys had never taken him anywhere farther than London. The topic of Dursleys treatment of him would surely ensure Dumbledore's cooperation. He had admitted that Dursleys didn't treat him well.

Ginny and Harry talked a bit more on things regarding school and the Order. They had a pleasant time and resolved to do it often. They both found the company very fulfilling. Ron nagged Ginny and Hermione nagged both of them. It was fun teasing each other and simply talking about anything and everything.

XXXX

Harry made the request the next morning to Mrs. Weasley. After breakfast, Harry requested to speak with her for a few minutes.

"What is it dear? Did you need anything?" she asked softly.

"Yes Mrs. Weasley. I have outgrown all my cousin's clothes. Could you talk to the Order to arrange a shopping trip for me?"

She smiled and tried to discourage him, "It is too dangerous for you to be seen outside dear. If you give me your measurements, I could take care of it for you."

Shit! He hadn't thought of that. "Sorry Mrs. Weasley but I would like to buy my own clothes. I know it is not safe to shop in London. So I was thinking that maybe I could shop in muggle France? Voldemort", he ignored the flinch and continued, "and his death eaters wont be looking for me in muggle France. He concentrates on England doesn't he? So I will be safe there. Fleur informed me that she would be my guide."

Mrs. Weasley's face almost grimaced at the mention of Fleur but she held herself. "We shall have to see Harry. The Order is very busy. We cannot spare anyone."

Harry almost snorted when he heard that the Order was busy. "I know Mrs. Weasley. That is why I asked to go to France. No one would need to take care of me. Fleur would be there. I would also disguise myself so that no one recognizes me. It would seem like Fleur is returning to her home with her cousin before her wedding. It wouldn't suspicious at all." Seeing her protest even before she could voice it, he played the pity card, "Please Mrs. Weasley. I have never been shopping before. The Dursleys never bought me new clothes and they never took me anywhere farther than London. I have grown taller than my cousin and all his clothes don't fit me anymore. I have never gone on a vacation before. I don't want to be gone long either. Just for 3 or 4 days."

It worked! Her eyes teared up and hugged him. "Oh you poor dear! I will talk to the Order. I will make sure that you be allowed to go Harry. It is the least we could do."

Harry smirked within her embrace. Even Dumbledore couldn't outright refuse Mrs. Weasley if she was set on something. It wouldn't be long until he got permission.

XXXX

The very next day, Remus and Moody visited the Burrow. While Moody was talking to the Weasleys, Remus pulled Harry aside to talk.

"How are you Harry?" Remus asked kindly. Remus looked a bit more worn out than usual. The stress of war, lycanthropy and losing a friend seemed to be taking a bit of a toll on him.

"Better than you by the looks of it" Harry answered with a grin. "Seriously Remus, cheer up. Sirius would not have wanted you to rot away like this. He would have preferred a party in his honor instead of moping about like this."

Remus sighed "Yes, you are right. Sirius was like that." Remus then chuckled and said, "Here I am, the adult being comforted by the teen. It should have been the other way round."

Harry grinned and said "Adults do need a kick in their backside sometimes."

"So Harry, how did you do in your O.W.Ls?" Remus asked eagerly.

"Not bad. Got an O in defense, D in History, A in Astronomy, P in Divination and E in everything else. Say, how did my parents, Sirius and you do in your O.W.Ls?" Harry asked in return.

" James and Sirius more or less got the same as you but the subjects varied. Lily was always the top of our year. She got 5 Os and 4 Es. I got 4 Os, 3Es and 2 Ps. James being of Potter blood, had an affinity for Defense and Transfiguration. So he topped the class in those two subjects. Lily was good at Charms and other non wand subjects like Potions, Astronomy and Ancient Runes. She was the best at those subjects. I was good at magical theory like History, Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures due to my condition. I was okay at defense too."

Remus now got a thoughtful look and said "You know, it is surprising how similar you and Sirius are. While James was good at Defense and shielding, Sirius was extraordinary at any kind of Offensive Magic and Dueling, just like you. Both of you had less than stellar childhoods. The most surprising thing is you both hate chocolate in any form, even ice cream."

"Pity us, who don't like Chocolate. Told by an addict called Remus" Harry quipped.

Remus continued as if he weren't interrupted, "I haven't told anyone but Seamus Finnegan told me at Kings Cross that you are a better capacity for hard liquor than even him. He struck up a conversation with me while we were waiting for you. He told me you prefer hard muggle liquor like Vodka, Whiskey and Rum just like Sirius. He also mentioned that you are stone cold sober even while all of them were finishing up. Sirius too was like that. He could outlast even me with my lycanthropic advantage. It is uncanny how similar you both are. You have your looks from James, eyes from Lily but everything else is from Sirius."

Harry drunk up whatever Remus told him. Personal information about his parents and the Marauders were hard to come by. Now that he thought about it, it was rather uncanny that he was so similar to Sirius in most aspects. He warned Remus jokingly, "Don't you dare say anything about me being the illegal love child of Sirius and my mother."

Remus laughed and said "Hey, Sirius might have been a ladies man but he would never interfere with Lily. James had her marked as his from before fourth year." He adopted a mock serious tone and said, "Now, being the only remaining Marauder, it falls to me to see that you are responsible. Lily would fry me for not stopping you, but Harry, I know how it goes on in school. Don't become dependent on liquor to drown your sorrows or sex to get a reprieve from everything. Apart from that, as a Marauder, I give you full permission to bed any willing lady and enjoy your time at Hogwarts. Do try to pull some pranks in memory of the Marauders."

Harry grinned and replied "Don't worry so much Remus. I plan to enjoy life like Sirius would have wanted me to. I let so many opportunities slip away the last two years but not anymore. With everything going on, I just know I will be very busy after I finish school. That is why, the last two years will be one hell of a joyride."

"Take care to maintain your grades Harry. It is also important", Remus urged worriedly.

Harry smirked and said mysteriously "You don't know what I am capable of Remus old boy. Wait and see."

Remus had a horrified look and he exclaimed "Tell me you didn't! You… you threw your O.W.Ls? I don't believe it!"

Harry had decided to let this slip because Remus was the last Marauder and he could confide a bit with him. He hoped to let Remus in a bit so that he could build a better relationship with him. He needed Remus on his side when he was ready to break away from Dumbledore. "Did you really expect me to be so dumb with my mother being so intelligent? You just now told me that even my father was brilliant in some subjects. I could have aced the O.W.Ls in all wand related subjects and even Potions. Hell, I believe I can take N.E.W.Ts in Charms, Transfiguration and Defense and pass with an E at least right now. Magic is easy for me Remus but I have no wish for my enemies to know that. O.W.Ls results are available to everyone. Everyone knows I am average in all classes except Defense. So, when I face Voldemort in my annual meeting, he will underestimate me. Quite an idea don't you think?" Harry asked with a wicked grin. He was also pleased when Remus did not flinch or wince when he uttered Voldemort.

Remus was still flabbergasted "But… but… You sneak! Cheeky little bugger, you are playing a prank on the whole world. Even the Marauders never managed to do this!" he exclaimed and laughed heartily.

"Remus please don't tell anyone. I want to shock even the people in the Order in my seventh year. Tell then let my prank continue", Harry implored.

Remus still laughing, replied "Sure Harry. If you need any help in any form, contact me. I would love to be a part of a prank of such a grand scale."

"Thanks Remus. I will if I need it."

XXXX

It was two weeks more before his trip could be arranged. It was decided that he could leave on July 24 and stay for 3 days in France. Fleur would be the only one accompanying him since more people would only arouse suspicion. Dumbledore okayed it and informed him through Mrs. Weasley.

In those two weeks, Harry had another brainwave. In the new books, Occlumency was a technique of building a wall around your memories so that other couldn't read your thoughts. It was a cumbersome process and it required the person to suppress most of his emotions. But he decided that he had been afforded enough time and incentive (death of Sirius) to master it. He could afford to show that he had mastered Occlumency. If Dumbledore asked, he could say that he had found a new way by accident and worked hard at it to master it. He could add that Sirius died for it and he could not take any more chances.

So, Harry blanketed all his memories with shadows. A powerful legilimens could part it to see memories. Hence, he kind of attached all his memories to the shadows. So if they tried to clear the shadows, they would clear the memories as well. It had the effect of shrouding his mind completely. Other than this, he combined the new Occlumency technique too. He decided to build an outer wall around his shadows. Since he didn't want to suppress his emotions, he took the muggle concept known as black holes and incorporated it. He made the shield to act in the reverse manner of a black hole. A black hole sucked in everything, no matter how much anyone resisted. But in reverse, it always kept pushing everything out. Shadows are infinite and that is what was being pushed out continuously. This also had an added benefit or not having to maintain shields magically like Snape did or actively keep his memories safe. It required no concentration at all and he could maintain it at all times unlike the practitioners of newer technique of Occlumency who could only maintain their shields for a short duration since it ate up their magic.

Physical exercises were continued. As expected, Mrs. Weasley asked him why he did it the first time he did it. He told her that it was a regular custom in the muggle world and it also helped him stay healthy. So, he had an approved reason to jog close to the Burrow every morning and evening. He stepped up his exercises to two times in a day since he couldn't read his Battle magic books. Besides, the extra workout helped him burn up all the food that Mrs. Weasley forced upon him.

He flew everyday after helping with the chores around the house. He talked and played with Ron and Hermione. He avoided talking about Sirius with Hermione and she was getting a bit too annoying. She had started to pester him about opening up to her as if she were a psychologist. He also talked to Ginny everyday without fail. It was one time of the day he could almost be himself. They harmlessly flirted with each other. Everyday, he jokingly told her she would be his one day and she would deny it vehemently. He laughed freely with her and almost forgot the burdens of being the Boy Who lived. He was a tad more peaceful when he was with her.

While interacting with Ginny on a daily basis, he realized something: Dumbledore wanted him to be protected and away from war for the time being. Eventually, he would be at the forefront of the war under him if he could not escape. After five years of obeying him and rolling with his manipulations, Dumbledore must have some confirmation that Harry would do as he asked. So instead of moping that he would not be allowed to go to war under him, Harry decided to let go. He really had nobody to call family anymore. He knew he had to take the war into his own hands. But until then, he would enjoy whenever he can without rousing suspicions. He would live and enjoy life and all that it offered. So, he could reasonably do what he wanted.

XXXX

The trip to France was amazing. It was arranged to be a 3 day trip from July 24. Ginny was not that happy about him going alone with Fleur. Even after Harry's many attempts to make Ginny like Fleur, she was still obstinate. She didn't like that Fleur rubbed in the fact that they were poor every now and then. He could hardly blame Ginny for that since Fleur was a bit of a rich, spoiled daughter. He would also miss Ginny's company but he was looking forward to some great sex.

France was his first trip outside of Surrey, London and Scotland. France was elegant and distinctive. Everything and everyone had an opinion on something. There was _class_ in everything. Beauty was to be seen everywhere. There were no grummy looking places like in England. The weather was not murky and the Paris was not completely busy like London. Paris was the centre of fashion in every aspect. People wore and gossiped about the latest fashion in clothes, builders followed the latest, most extravagant style in construction. Even poor people had taste.

People were generally snobs in Paris. Harry understood that most of them were brought up in riches and were treated like princes and princesses. They were not rude per say, they were simply assured of their places in society. But they were hardly helpful in many matters. If you knew your way around Paris, you could get anything. Muggle Paris fascinated him with its many differences and beauty.

Fleur took him to the best shops and boutiques for everything. Everything was expensive but there were so many options to every little thing you could buy. Harry did not like thin materials that most preferred in France. Nor did he like that vibrant and garish colors. He preferred dark colors with trims or slight patterns instead of clothes covered completely covered in patterns. Fleur was very unhappy about his purchase since he did not have taste or imagination in them, but he put his foot down and refused to buy the atrocious clothes that she thought were fashionable.

The food was absolutely delectable. Most famous restaurants had courses for meals and wine was a given certainty. Personally Harry preferred hard liquor to wine but wine was the best combination to French food.

Language was a barrier for Harry. He had learnt several languages during his studies in the chamber of secrets but he never learnt French. The magical history of France was pretty young. The magical society of France started getting noteworthy only in the late 14 century. Before then, it was simply a veela haven. All the books in the chamber were over a millennium old and hence it had no French books. By the time France gained enough importance magically, many areas of magical study were already snuffed out. So, Harry had not learnt French and he did not want to risk going to the magical section to get the potion done or the ingredients to learn it. Besides, after these three days, he was not sure he was ever coming back to France again. France held no appeal to him other than business opportunities and food.

There was never a dull moment in the three days that Harry spent there. He just left his worries in England and had a grand time there. With a beautiful veela on your arm and kind of unlimited money, one could never be denied anything in Paris. They never ventured to the magical part of Paris in fear of being recognized. Muggle Paris had enough sights and places to keep them occupied throughout their visit. There wasn't much time to go see all the places in and around Paris but they did manage to scrap visits to quite a few museums and gardens.

Harry would never admit it to anyone, but pleasing a Veela in bed was just as pleasing to him. He let her charm worm into him a bit at the time of her orgasm. It was intensely arousing when one had enough self control. This in turn enabled him to pleasure her more times. Fleur did not want rough sex unless she was highly angry or irritated. She liked stretched out sexual sessions that lasted all through the night. He knew how to take his time and tease her into many orgasms before achieving his own fulfillment. Fleur would also use her Veela charm to arouse him when he was tired. This was one aspect that was not known to many people. The natural charm just drew people to Veela and enthralled them to impress the veela. A controlled burst of Veela charm aimed at specific areas of a brain would arouse their partners.

Fleur wanted a long goodbye and hence they rarely went beyond shopping and a little sight seeing. Most of the three days in Paris was spent in their hotel room having sex. She had decided not to go to her family chateau where her parents could keep an eye on her. She told him that she would tell the Order that it was easier to travel in the muggle world than risk being recognized in the magical part of Paris. Harry was sore during all the three days but he had never had such mind blowing sex. Fleur admired his control and utterly enjoyed the three days of unbridled sex. She was content and felt completely satiated.

Fleur told him that she was almost tempted to cancel the marriage to Bill and remain as his mistress or perhaps one of his wives. Seeing Harry's horrified look, she quickly assured him that she was really attracted to Bill and she would go ahead with the marriage. But that did not stop her from having sex whenever they could in Paris. She wanted Harry to fulfill some of her fantasies. He made love to her in the bathroom, on the dinner table, bed, sofa, balcony and every other place in their hotel room. Sex was a way of life for the veela and she told him that she was lucky enough to find a powerful and strong willed male to satisfy her. Her rather intense orgasms were thoroughly appreciated and Harry undoubtedly had the best three days of his life.


	5. New Beginnings

**Chapter 5: New Beginnings**

**A/N: WARNING! MATURE SCENE IN CHAPTER!**

The holiday was a stressful one. With Voldemort out in the open, there were many attacks, disappearances, odd accidents and deaths. It seemed that the Dementors were breeding. The whole of London was covered in a greenish fog because of it. The Dementors were attacking regularly and randomly.

Even on his birthday, Harry was not spared. The bad news kept coming. Igor Karkaroff was found dead which made Harry slightly happy. Who cares about a has been death eater anyway. The disappearance of Florean Fortesque was disheartening. He was a kind man who ran the ice cream parlor in Diagon Alley. Ollivander had also disappeared with his wands. Harry was surprised to know that there were other wand makers in England. He thought that Ollivander was the only one for England.

Being made the Quidditch captain was a pleasant surprise. He wondered why Katie wasn't given the captaincy. She was the senior most member and she had pretty good ideas like Angelina. Since it gave Harry a prefect like status, it gave him a bit more freedom.

Harry was surprised and a bit wary when Bill passed him a bag of gold apparently from his own vault. Was it that easy for anyone to get into his vault? Being saved from 5 hours of waiting was good but if Bill could get access to his money, who else could? He decided to ask about this later and he could trust Bill in terms of money at least.

The security arranged was all for him. He supposed he was to feel safe, but gah! It was irritating. Hagrid! He was a good guy and all but even being a half giant, he would be no match for a group of death eaters who could kill him with an _Avada Kedavra_.

When he stepped into Diagon Alley, Harry wondered how long it would take Diagon Alley to become like Knockturn Alley. Some scam shops had opened and original, honest shops were closed. Ministry pamphlets and posters of death eaters were posted everywhere. But Harry was amused when he got a lot of stares his way from the females in the crowd. His form fitting button up shirt and slacks showed off his fit body. He inwardly crowed when he noticed a flash of jealousy in Ginny's eyes.

Harry couldn't help baiting Draco Malfoy at Madame Malkin's. He noted satisfactorily that he was taller than him and his mother. Mocking her arrogance was a bit of a relief. Hermione's nagging to stop was annoying. She was never the one for confrontation. Even if someone was raping her, she would plead with them not do to that or something. Through all this, Harry noticed that Malfoy was a bit shifty. He was tensely wrung up and was probably hiding something. Harry kept his suspicions to himself and made a note to watch Malfoy at school. Harry wished that he had learnt Legilimency. It would have been dead useful to get information from Malfoy.

Harry decided that his gift to the twins was brilliant at his first glance of the shop. The bright flashing colors and slurs against death eaters and Voldemort were amusing. The twins were brilliant. Seeing all their inventions, Harry was sure that they too had thrown their O.W.Ls like he did.

Harry was truly impressed when they showed off their Defense section. The news of incompetence of the ministry was not surprising at all. At least they were buying the shield hats to make up for it. Hearing the banter between the members of the Weasley family was informative. The twins haggling Ginny about her boyfriends and Ginny's Mrs. Weasley impression was all too amusing to watch.

Harry didn't really want to take Ron and Hermione with him to trail after Malfoy but he didn't want to make the impression that he was leaving them out. He could move more silently and stealthily on his own. The invisibility cloak was just big enough for the three of them. All of them had grown. The moment that Malfoy threatened Borgin, Harry knew that Malfoy was given a task. He could have possibly been marked by Voldemort already but he was not sure about that. Hermione, Harry decided had no tact. Even Hagrid could detect her lies a mile away. Because of her, he couldn't find out anything about the item that Malfoy was interested in.

As everyone waited for the ministry car to show up, Harry noticed that Tom, the barkeep of the Leaky Cauldron was a bit glum. There wasn't much business for him since everyone was in a hurry and afraid to be out. Harry walked off to talk to Tom without others noticing anything unusual. Mrs. Weasley would have had a fit if she knew that Harry was buying. He was low on liquor and Tom always had some muggle liquor too. Harry bought three bottles of firewhiskey, a dozen bottles of different muggle whiskeys, a case of butterbeer (24 bottles), three bottles of different muggle Rum and six bottles of good Vodka. He liked Vodka the best out of all of them but there were many kinds of muggle whiskey to try out. He had Tom discreetly pick up his order and shrink it in the backroom itself. Harry paid Tom and pocketed the shrunken purchase before anyone noticed it.

When they reached the Burrow, Harry put away his liquor in the secret second compartment after unshrinking it.

XXXX

Harry was very annoyed that he rarely got any privacy from Ron and Hermione most of the days. When he tried to talk to them about Malfoy's suspicious actions, they blew him off. Hermione was short with him and Ron made ill times jokes about it. They didn't believe him when he told them his suspicions about Malfoy being a death eater

Harry silently smirked to himself when he noticed that Hermione was having trouble with her Advanced Rune Translation. He knew for a fact that it was a book written three decades ago and had quite a lot of mistakes. Harry didn't know that much about Runes but he had read up on the basics to figure out Rituals for animagus. This advanced book didn't explain anything about Runic spellcasting at all. Runic spellcasting was casting spells by drawing runes in the air or enchanting objects by drawing runes on them. Harry knew the basics of that but was more interested in Battle magic and had no time.

Tired of their lack of belief and irritating behavior, he stalked out of the house after having a bit of a talk with Mrs. Weasley. It was the last day before Hogwarts and he decided to cool off in the pond near the Burrow.

He stripped down to his boxers and swam a bit to relax. He had learnt to swim after the disaster at second task during the tri-wizard tournament. Fred and George had taught him in the Hogwarts lake.

It was so relaxing that he didn't notice anything until he was pulled down into the water, sputtering by Ginny. She let him go as soon as he was dunked and emerged beside him laughing at him.

"GINNY! What did you do that for?" he exclaimed indignantly.

Ginny replied laughingly, "You should have seen yourself, flailing about like a startled pygmy puff."

Harry pouted and said in a childish voice, "You are mean."

Harry decided to take revenge and dove at her, carrying her down with him. They played around in the water for a while. During that time, Harry had decided not to wait anymore. He would have Ginny today. She was so sexy wearing only a two piece striped bikini. While playing around, he felt her curves without clothes and they were amazing.

He would like to have her as his girlfriend but even if it was just sex, he would be glad. He was not that intent upon having a girlfriend. Having a girlfriend meant that he had to limit himself. He had not even started to have fun that he wished and he no intention to get tied down this soon. But Ginny was a special case. She was his.

Finally, they both pulled themselves out of the water and laid down beside each other on large towels. Harry rolled a bit and braced himself on his arm looking at Ginny. They were still wet and she was so beautiful. Her wet clothes clung to her body and hid nothing. He saw her nipples protruding against the material of the bikini. Her wonderfully round breasts were heaving as she tried to catch her breath. She had swept her long wet hair aside. Her long, creamy legs were glistening with water droplets. Her flat stomach and her curvy hips were alluring. She had an ethereal quality to her beauty.

He couldn't wait any longer. They were secluded enough as the pond was a bit out of the way from the Burrow and everyone else was busy with either the wedding preparation or back to school preparation. Nobody would disturb them.

He rolled on top of her completely invading her personal space. He pushed her hands above her head and held them there. Her breathing quickened as his body was flush against hers. His arousal was pressing against her thigh and her nipples were pressed against his chest.

"Wh… What are… you doing Harry?" she asked nervously while blushing at the close contact.

"What does it look like Gin?" he purred in her ear making her shiver.

Ginny was in a quandary. She knew she loved Harry. She also knew that Harry didn't love her. But she was attuned to Harry. She had a bond with him. She did not know the nature of the bond. She owed him a life debt but on top of that, she loved him. Even though he didn't love her, he desired her. How could she refuse him? She had a boyfriend Dean, who she still didn't know why she was dating. But Harry was such a perfect example of masculinity. His emerald green eyes that she loved were darkened with lust. She never knew he had such fine muscles. His powerful arms held her arms above her head. His broad shoulders held her down. She could feel the hard, lean chest pressing against her. Her legs were held down by his muscular and powerful legs. His mesmerizing eyes were boring into hers demanding that she submit to him. But most of all, she could feel his arousal pressing against her thigh. What could she possibly do in such a situation?

"I don't understand. Why?" she asked.

"I told you before Gin, you will be mine in the end. But seeing you this summer, I couldn't hold back anymore. You are MINE Gin." He said possessively.

His possessive tone made her shiver. It was kind of exhilarating to feel this wanted by someone, especially Harry. She knew the truth. She admitted the truth to him softly "I was always yours Harry. You knew that."

"Yes", he said as he nibbled at her neck arousing her further, "now I am going to take what is mine."

Harry then kissed her hard. She parted her lips and their tongues dueled each other. He released her hands and caressed her left breast while his right hand caressed her hips. Still kissing each other passionately, he rolled them over, pulling Ginny on top of him. He moved to remove her top. After untying the knot, he rubbed her back while they kissed.

The kiss soon turned into a blistering kiss. The passion between them soon spiraled out of control. Their heartbeats soared as they explored the depths of each others mouths. Their breathing quickened as they caressed and appreciated each others bodies. He pressed her closer to him and squeezed her wonderful ass. Ginny was clinging to him, kissing him like her life depended on it while roaming her hands over his broad shoulders and his untamable hair.

Harry then proceeded to remove her last piece of clothing as he dragged her bottom bikini piece to her knees. Ginny aided him by helping him pushing it further down and eventually removing it. Ginny tugged at his boxers as she started kissing his Adam's apple and nibbling at his neck. Harry lifted his hips and she lowered his boxers.

Ginny pressed herself tightly against him as she trailed down his body planting kisses everywhere. Her nipples formed two wet lines along his body. She licked his belly button, making him squirm a bit. She smirked when she realized that he was ticklish there.

Harry pulled her up when she teased his belly button. He rolled them over again so that he was on top. He gave her a deep kiss on the mouth before venturing further down. He used his hands to massage her breasts. They were soft and round, much bigger than he had expected. But having Molly's genes, it was not that surprising that Ginny's breasts were pretty large for her small frame. He planted kisses on her neck and thumbed her nipples.

He moved his mouth to one of the nipples and licked it. He felt Ginny shudder in pleasure as his other hand continued its ministrations on her other breast. He licked and bit her nipple causing her to moan. With his other hand, he felt for her pussy. Ginny had light hair near her pussy. He used his index finger to feel for her pussy. Ginny parted her legs under him to grant him further access. Once he located it, he ran his finger along her slit, still not penetrating her. Her moans increased due to his experienced stimulation of her breasts and slit.

He left her breasts alone for a moment and again moved up kiss her. He held himself above her with one hand and with the other hand, he gently parted his pussy lips and pushed his middle finger inside. Ginny's scream of pleasure was drowned in their kiss as she experienced her orgasm. Her body convulsed as pleasure tore into her. Harry was surprised for a bit and then pleased. It meant that no one had done this to her yet and she was still a virgin to most forms of sex, if not all. He would have been displeased if she had given away her virginity to someone else.

He slowly started to move his finger in and out of her when her shudders ceased. Ginny had started to kiss all parts of his face when he was doing that. Harry then stimulated her breasts with his mouth again as she caressed his hair and pressed his head to her chest. He continued to pump her pussy with his finger and sucked at her nipple hard. She shrieked but pressed his head even more tightly to her breast. She was whimpering from extended exposure to pleasure and whispering his name all the time.

After a few minutes like that, Harry trailed kisses and licks down her body, with his finger still pumping her pussy. When his mouth reached her slit, he used his fingers to hold her pussy lips open and started to lick her pussy. Ginny groaned and called out his name fervently as he licked and teased her clitoris expertly. Using his tongue he delved into her depths continuously teasing and arousing her to new heights.

Ginny's body spasmed as she experienced another orgasm. She led his head to her pussy as her hips bucked sporadically. Harry was forced to remain still under her surprising strength. He continued to lick her clean of her juices as she came down from her orgasm.

By this time, he was hard and had held back enough. His dick was pulsing wildly. He moved up again when she relaxed and kissed her softly. "I will be gentle but it will hurt for a little bit Gin. Don't be alarmed. Bite my neck so that if you scream, others wont her you."

Ginny nodded and broke off the kiss. He positioned himself at her entrance and slowly pushed in. She bit his neck as he held himself an inch into her pussy. He waited until she got used to it and then continued to push in excruciatingly slowly. He stopped himself when he encountered her intact hymen. Ginny was tense and he whispered in her ear to relax. Harry had learnt from Fleur that a witch's hymen does not break due to sports or other physical activities like a muggle woman. The hymen is magical and can only be broken by a wizard penetrating the witch.

"Ready now Ginny… it will be a little painful…" he cajoled her and suddenly plunged his dick into her pussy hard, breaking her hymen. Ginny bit into his shoulder hard as she felt concentrated pain. Harry felt her bleed a bit but he whispered soothingly in her ear and nibbled at it, "Shh… its okay… its over now… relax… come on Gin…"

Slowly, she relaxed and started kissing his neck. She pushed her hips towards him to take him a bit more into her. Harry continued to penetrate her until he was buried in her completely. Her pussy was hot and very tight. His dick fit like a glove in her perfect pussy. It felt like it was a perfect match. Harry had desperately held himself back until now so that Ginny would experience the least pain and enjoy her first time.

He started to move achingly slowly. She urged him to move faster by meeting him half way. He held himself above her bracing himself using his elbows. He pushed his dick in and out of her warm, wet pussy with Ginny moaning his name. Her eyes were closed and she was holding herself by his neck. He watched her writhe below him in ecstasy as he sped his thrusts.

A few hard thrusts later, she orgasmed yet again. He stilled as she rode her orgasm to completion. Then he really started to pound into her. Long and forceful thrusts had her begging him for more. He eagerly complied as he stole kisses. Flesh met flesh making smacking sounds as they desperately melded together seeking completion. Her hot valise pulled him deeper into her. He desperately thrust into her soaking depths as he neared his orgasm. His balls slapped below her pussy every time their bodies met. Their feverish movements made their heads spin in pleasure. Harry pounded into her furiously as they each neared orgasms.

He felt his balls twitch and at the same time, Ginny's pussy tightened around him squeezing him. She screamed out her release causing him to spill himself inside her. His dick pulsed as he unloaded his sperm into her soaking pussy. He spurted a few more times as their bodies bucked in extreme ecstasy. The tightening walls of her pussy milked his cock until he was completely spent.

When they stilled, they shared a long, deep kiss. Harry's dick plopped out of her pussy and their combined juices started to flow out. He rolled over again and pulled her on top of him. She settled herself above him with a contended smile. Harry caressed her back and held her close at her waist. Ginny rested her head against his shoulder and wrapped her arms and legs around his chest and legs. Their sweating bodies relaxed as their breathing evened out.

"That was the best experience of my life", Ginny told him softly.

"Stay with me Gin and I will keep you happy. I promise you" Harry proclaimed earnestly.

"I will Harry. Believe me, I will. Nobody will keep you away from me again, not even my family."

"Good, you are mine", Harry stated.

After a few minutes, Harry asked "Gin, how many boyfriends have you had until now? Ron is always telling so many things that I don't know what is true."

Ginny was far too pleased to get angry, "Ron's a prick. Michael was the only one before Dean Harry."

"How far did you go with them?" Harry demanded in a possessive tone even though he tried to keep his voice even.

"Jealous again Harry?" she teased, "but I never went further than snogging and light petting with clothes on with Michael. With Dean, I have just snogged him that is all. Still don't know why I agreed to go out with Dean though."

Harry was pleased that Ginny could still taunt him. He didn't want a subservient girl. Ginny had the spirit to tease him and support him if he needed it. Harry replied smugly "Of course Michael wouldn't. I threatened him if he did anything to you, he wouldn't like the consequences. And the next week, you two broke up."

"I should be angry with you for threatening him but I am far too content right now. Anyway, it was me who broke up with him. He couldn't stand Gryffindor winning against Ravenclaw; that conceited git. Your threat was effective though, he rarely did anything the last week. Now that loser is going out with another loser, Cho" Ginny said.

Harry laughed and said "Cho is a loser all right. One minute she is so forward that she is practically throwing herself at me and the next, she is bawling her eyes out crying all over me. I mean, I can understand that she was a bit testy with Cedric being killed, but I really think that she was trying to milk me for comfort. And don't even remind of the disastrous single date at Madame Puddifoot's. Both the place and her tantrum were disgusting."

Ginny laughed with him but she asked quietly, nervously "Harry, can you tell me who was your first? I am not angry or anything but I wanted to know who made you so good."

Harry sighed and said "Please don't tell anyone, but my first and only girl before you was Fleur." He felt Ginny gasp in surprise "She taught me all about sex as a payment for saving her sister from the merpeople during the second task. She was hot and she was experienced. Till the end of the year, she taught me all that she knew about sex and pleasure."

"Ohhhkayyy. That was news", Ginny mused, "You have been hiding a lot from all of us, haven't you Harry?" she asked.

Harry laughed delightedly pulled her closer to him while he answered, "You being this perceptive and intelligent is one of the reasons I desire you. I find practical intelligence sexy. Yes, I have been hiding a lot and I will tell you my secrets eventually. And Ginny, dump Dean as soon as possible, you are mine and I refuse that prick to even touch you."

"Yes Harry Potter Sir. As you wish sir", Ginny said mockingly.

Harry groaned "Gin, please don't do that again. One eccentric, deranged house elf fan is enough for me. Don't you start too."

Ginny sighed regretfully and told him, "We have to go back. They will notice us soon."

They separated and noted that their clothes were strewn about in the grass and were wet and dirty. Harry put on his bracelet and used his wand to summon, clean and dry their clothes. He had not used his wand before to silence the area as it would have spoiled the moment.

"Harry! What about underage magic rules?" Ginny asked worriedly.

Harry winked at her and replied "This is one of my secrets Ginny. This is no ordinary bracelet. It masks all the magic performed using the hand that is wearing the bracelet. Besides, we all could use magic around here anyway. The ministry does not monitor the wand, but the area. If we use magic, they will think it is either your parents or your brothers."

Ginny huffed "Why didn't mom tell me? We could have been using magic all this time and I missed out."

Harry smiled and said "This is precisely why she didn't tell you. Already you lot are uncontrollable, imagine the chaos if all of you could use magic all the time."

Ginny laughed as she put on her bikini "It would have been fun." They dressed and Ginny covered herself with the large towel as they went back to the Burrow.

XXXX

Harry observed a few things during the summer. Apart from physical exercises, he couldn't do anything else to train himself as it would raise suspicions. So, he had a lot of time to think and observe a lot of things.

The most surprising thing was that Hedwig, his faithful owl, was rarely there with him. He had only seen her 5 or 6 days during the entire summer. Harry thought that it was because she was mating with some owl. He did not know much about owls, but that was the only logical reason he could think of. She was also a bit testy when she was there with him. He deduced that this too might be due to the mating.

Harry noticed that he was undergoing some physical changes. It wasn't much but he observed the change. He had a slightly better sense of smell and hearing. His strength was also a bit augmented. He attributed these changes to his animagus abilities. He had read that he would get some benefits and abilities from doing the transformation in the ritual method.

Since Harry was a product of both muggle and magical worlds, he was probably the only one who noticed this little startling fact on his own. Hermione might have noticed it if she weren't buried in her books. That girl had no wish to apply her thinking capability for trivial matters like realistic differences between muggles and wizards. Wizards tend to mature faster than normal muggles. A 16 year old wizard like himself was usually 6 to 7 years ahead in mental maturity compared to a muggle. Even the physical maturity also mostly occurs before a wizard turns 17. After the age of 17 there is not much significant change in the physical appearance of a wizard till the age of 30 except some little things. This early maturity could be attributed to magic since that was the only thing that is basically lacking in muggles. This was why wizards tend to marry right out of school and can have sex so easily at 15 years of age.

Harry had actually read about this in one of the journals of Salazar Slytherin. Once he started to see the difference in maturity between muggles and wizards, he searched the library in the chamber for anything related to this subject. A dark wizard of that time, by the name Zarnian was a kind of friend to Slytherin. Zarnian had performed extensive studies on muggles and wizards. He used highly unethical means of study – he kidnapped muggles and used them in experiments. He ran all sorts of tests on them. Dissecting them gave him no answers, other than that the lack of magic in their bodies offered no passive resistance like most wizards usually do. The psychological tests he performed were horrendous. He exposed them to dementors and then tortured them. He then performed the same tests on muggleborn wizards. Wizards had more "durability" than muggles. The true results came out when he tested their maturity. Wizards of the same age dealt with situation with more maturity than muggles. When muggles were more oriented towards childish pursuits in their early teenage years, wizards were already more oriented towards knowledge, wealth and their future. So in a sense, there was a ten year gap between muggles and wizards when the wizard was 20 years of age. As they aged, the ten year gap was maintained without much change.

Slytherin found this study by his friend fascinating. Salazar Slytherin was a dark wizard, but he was not an evil wizard as far as Harry knew. There weren't any journals beyond the age of fifty three of Slytherin. From the journals, Harry could make out that Slytherin had no love for muggles or muggleborn. He stated that they were a danger to their close knit society. He claimed rightly that muggles were more fearful of magic and would do anything to kill wizards. Such was the time period. But Slytherin also had pureblood view of exterminating them as they were inferior to wizards. The study by his friend Zarnian was actually sanctioned for this purpose by the heads of pureblood families of that time. This enforced Slytherin's beliefs that muggles and muggleborns were inferior to pureblood wizards. But even he knew that it was foolish to attempt to take over muggles since they outnumbered wizard massively even in that time.

On a side note, Harry remembered the cause of the dark ages. The plague was an effort by a group of purebloods to exterminate muggles. They had somehow managed to capture and control a pair of Nundus and set them to attack muggles. Their disease spreading breath was the cause of the dark plague. It actually took the entire wizarding auror force from all over the world of that time to subdue and kill those Nundus. The pureblood wizards were of course not prosecuted. They had too much influence and wealth.

Harry had an abrupt thought in the morning he was to leave for Hogwarts. Since Dumbledore told him to keep the invisibility cloak with him at all times, had he put some sort of tracking charm on it? It was precious to Harry, being his father's. It would be a very good choice to keep track of him. He knew that a tracking charm placed on a person is easily dissolved by a person's magic. So, it is effective only for a few minutes depending on the strength of the wizard. The more powerful the wizard on whom the charm is performed is, the less is the effectiveness of the tracking charm. But the tracking charm would hold almost indefinitely on a physical object if it was not detected. Harry performed some revealing charms on the cloak. He did not believe that there was no tracking charm on it. He performed a more detailed revealing charm and did not find a tracking charm. It was surprising but he was thankful for having one less thing to worry about.

The morning departure went very smooth compared to the previous rush as was norm for the Weasleys. Fleur teased Ron and his brothers by kissing Harry. She gave him a wink when Ginny tripped Ron and he fell on his face. The extra security and pushing of the grim faced aurors was irritating but Harry held it in.

Harry decided he might as well tell someone about Draco Malfoy. Someone must have informed Dumbledore already and if he kept it to himself, it might seem as though he did not trust the authority figures. That would bring closer watch on him and he didn't want that. He tried to convince Mr. Weasley about Malfoy being a death eater but he was skeptical.

Ron and Hermione were on prefect duty and Ginny had to tell Dean that they were no longer together. He was grateful for Luna's and Neville's company. All the gawking and pointing was beginning to annoy him. Merlin! He was not even in school and they were already shadowing him. Luna's blunt honesty was like a breath of fresh air. Romilda Vane was a bold girl to ask him to abandon his friends. He might have cursed her if she was not a silly fan girl.

The invitation to Slughorn's gathering was surprising since he didn't expect a professor to be on the train. Blaise Zabini was a tall black boy with slanting eyes. He was a true neutral. Ginny's presence was a surprise, though she looked annoyed and confused. Cormac McLaggen was the Gryffindor braggart, Marcus Belby was a nervous idiot. Harry sat through Slughorn's boasting. The first chance he got, he raised his left eyebrow at Ginny, silently asking why she was here. She grimaced behind Slughorn and shrugged.

Learning about Zabini's mother was a bit of a shock. Slughorn was truly a collector. Who would have thought to include such a person! Harry thought he might like to pay Mrs. Zabini a visit if her reputation was true. It got a little inquisitive after that. His own interrogation revealed nothing new. After that, it got a bit boring. He couldn't wait to take off.

Following Zabini was a mistake. He didn't even have time to ask Ginny what happened with Dean. Getting in was easy. Most of the Slytherin sixth year was there. Nott was usually a loner and he was rarely with Malfoy whenever he wanted to bully or irritate the Gryffindors. The pug faced Millicent Bulstrode was Draco's usual companion apart from his lackeys. He cheered for Zabini when he put Malfoy in his place. He smirked when Pansy jealously said that Ginny was wanted by many. Of course, she was but she was his and his alone. Malfoy's claims and implications that he might not return the next year meant that he was surely assigned some task by Voldemort.

Harry was lost in his thoughts. He noted the only other sixth year Slytherin not in the compartment was Daphne Greengrass. Now that was some girl. She was probably the hottest girl at Hogwarts along with Ginny. Her attributes were amazing. He had never seen her without the bulky school robes that hid everything but he wanted to have a real look at her. She did not date. She was called the ice queen of Slytherin. Other houses did not have the courage to ask her and she had long past declined anyone from Slytherin house, boldly telling it to their faces that they were not worthy of her attention. She was often seen in the company of Blaise Zabini. He had researched and found out that they were first cousins. Those two were the silent Slytherins. They did not antagonize anyone or bully anyone. Zabini also did not date anyone from Slytherin, though he was heard to have gone out with one or two Ravenclaws.

He was startled when they began to move out and was wary of being discovered. Without warning, Malfoy struck him with a _Petrificus Totalus_. Harry tried to cast a silent shield with his wand but his magic picked up this minute to fluctuate. His spell failed and he was petrified. Harry swore vengeance on Malfoy for smashing his face.

His first entry into his sixth year was less than stellar. Oh Well! It could only get better during the year, he would make sure of that. He had great plans for the year.


	6. School

**Chapter 6: School **

Thankfully discovered by Tonks, Harry was dismayed to see her subdued demeanor. She did not smile, had mousy hair and looked miserable. Snape was a bastard as always. He was enraged at his acidic behavior to Tonks but he couldn't do anything, not this soon. It was a small relief that Tonks had healed his nose. When Snape commented about his muggle attire, Harry just thought that he was jealous of how good he looked in those form fitting clothes.

Harry had again missed the sorting. He wondered what possible situation might arise for him to miss the sorting next year too. Dumbledore's blackened and shriveled hand ceased his interrogation and other conversations around the hall. Dumbledore then gave the appalling news – Snape was the Defense professor and Slughorn was the Potions professor. Harry tried to decipher any hidden slues Dumbledore might have given him during his long speech about precautions against Voldemort.

After the conversation with Hagrid, Harry realized that none of his friends were taking Care of Magical Creatures. He decided to visit Hagrid anyways. He had no time to visit the chamber that night and hence retired to bed. He did not even have the energy to ask Ginny about Dean.

The next morning, Ron and Hermione again buffed his efforts of convincing them that Malfoy was up to something. Seeing lavender's interest in Ron, he surmised that they would at least date for a while before Ron got his head out of his arse and asked Hermione.

Class selection was interesting. Apparently, McGonagall knew Neville's grandmother and her name was Augusta. Harry did not want to reveal that he truly didn't want to be an auror, so he went with what the professor said. He wouldn't mind Potions this year if Slughorn was taking it.

It seemed as though he got plenty of free periods unlike Hermione. This gave his time to finish his homework earlier during the free periods so that he could sneak off into the Chamber sooner. He still had to get rid the faint scars that Umbridge had inflicted.

Snape's first class was a nightmare. Snape had turned his best class into his most hated one. His opening speech was glaringly similar to the one he gave for Potions in their first year. Harry could make out that Snape was addicted to Dark Arts. This was the type of addiction that made Harry decide not to pursue the Dark Arts anymore. Even reading about them was tempting. Besides he could inflict the same amount and more damage using Battle Magic.

Harry groaned when he realized that Snape was teaching nonverbal magic. He had learnt this in his fourth year. He could show up Snape with his ability but yet, he could not. It would bring so much suspicion upon him. He had to give Snape what he wanted – his failure.

Baiting Snape and losing points or getting detention seemed to be a trend this year. He so longed to show him off. He had to consciously yell out _Protego_ and perform the correct wand movements. He had decided during the summer that his method of casting spells without using excessive wand movements and incantations ought to be given a name. Only short wand actions to direct the spells were required, like a jab, flick, swish or a small arc. He decided to call it Focus casting. It would explain sufficiently, since this type of casting mainly depended on the Focus of a person casting the spell.

Dumbledore's message to meet was truly shocking. Harry did not expect such promptness from Dumbledore. He had not thought that Dumbledore would really teach him anything.

Like the first Defense class, the first Potions class of the year was also very different. Harry recognized Veritaserum and Polyjuice potion right away. The love potion, Amortentia was new to him. He did not have time to study Potions in detail but love potions were definitely out of his scope. Though, when he thought about it, he guessed he would have to look it up. He did not want to be caught unawares by it when many girls could easily slip it to him.

The last potion was a surprise. Harry had guessed that it was Felix Felicis potion. But he had truly not expected Slughorn to have one brewing. It took a hell of a long time to brew for a small increase in luck. Harry was not that enthusiastic about Potions even though he knew quite a bit about it. He preferred wand skills and he did not have the patience to brew anything intricate and complex. Felix was also a dangerous potion if it went into wrong hands.

Slughorn was truly an artist collecting people. He was always looking to add worthwhile people to his group of influence.

The Draught of Living Death that Slughorn asked them to brew was a hard potion but it was manageable. Harry knew he could use old techniques to quicken the process. He had read potion books in the chamber to shorten most brewing periods using deft shortcuts. Harry was at first annoyed to see scribbling in the edges of the textbook. This Advanced Potions Making book was based on modern, unnecessarily long brewing instruction. But when he deciphered the scribbling, he was delighted. The old owner of the book had consulted an older brewing book. He could now safely use his good potions knowledge without raising suspicions. If someone asked, he could tell them about the book. Besides, Slughorn would expect something extraordinary from him, being Lily's son.

Winning Felix Felicis wasn't really his goal but it was a nice reward. Heroine stiff reaction to his sudden ability annoyed him. Could he not be good at Potions? Should she be the only one to be best at everything? Stuffy little bitch. She should get a long and hard shag to relieve her. He was really getting tired of dealing with her righteousness and Ron's jealousy. Her unshakable belief in books was nauseating.

That night, he had a shocking conversation with Ginny. He was hoping to catch her alone in the common room. He got the opportunity at somewhere around 10 in the night. They were the only two remaining in the common room.

He plopped in the seat beside her and called out to her "Hey Gin, what are you working on?"

She replied distractedly "Homework Harry. Since it is O.W.L year, all the professors are piling up work right from the first day. Give me a minute, I am almost done." After a few seconds of scratching, she closed her reference book and leaned back comfortably.

"So, did you tell Dean Ginny?" he asked.

"Tell him what Harry?" she asked curiously.

Harry was bewildered. What was wrong with her? "That you are breaking up with him of course."

Ginny looked surprised "Why would I do that. He is a good boyfriend."

Now Harry was really perplexed. "What is wrong with you Ginny? Don't you remember our discussion by the lake near Burrow?"

"Of course Harry. We had great sex but that is not an enough reason to date now is it? I want to be with Dean Harry. Accept that. I am not yours" she told him slightly condensingly.

"What are you going on about? I told you Dean is a prick. Why are you still dating him? You are _mine_" he said strongly.

Now Ginny was getting angry, "I am not yours Potter. Get it through your head" she snapped at him. Then she took a few calming breaths and told him gently "Look Harry, I know this is difficult for you to accept. But please let me have my choice. I might not be with him going further on but for now, I am happy with him. Let me be Harry. Don't let our friendship break up over this."

Harry was a bit suspicious but decided to let her be for now. She was confused about the reason she was dating Dean during the summer and now she was advocating that she was happy with him. If he had a girlfriend like Ginny, he would not ignore her during the summer like Dean did. Dean never wrote to Ginny during the entire holidays. Until he could find something, would remain quiet. "Okay Ginny. But know this, eventually you will be mine" he finished smirking lightly. If Ginny really wanted to date Dean, she could. He could wait for her a bit longer.

"Sure Potter, dream on" Ginny drawled lazily.

"Count on it Weasley. It is only a matter of time" Harry replied back with a grin.

"It is getting late Harry. I have a hectic load this year. See you tomorrow" Ginny said and left for her dormitory.

Harry slipped on his invisibility cloak and checked with the Marauder map. Using both, he silently made his way to the chamber. He still had time before he needed sleep. As usual, he needed only about four hours of sleep a day. The Chamber of Secrets was a welcome sight. Even though the snake pillars were creepy, they were nothing compared to a dead Basilisk lying in the middle of the chamber. He had cleaned up most of the place but he had left the basilisk alone. He did not know how to harvest the parts but he knew they were invaluable. He did not have time to research that.

He uncorked the potion vial he had stored the previous year for the scars on his hand due to Umbridge's detentions. He applied the balm on the scars and watched them fade a bit. He applied some more balm until the scars completely faded. This healing balm used very rare ingredients. He was lucky that he had the ingredients in the Potion lab in the chamber. He doubted anyone outside had access to all the ingredients. It was an ancient healing elixir that was phased out centuries ago due to rarity of ingredients. Very little of the elixir remained after his use.

Deciding he still had time, he remembered to look up the next stage of traveling called Sliding. Sliding was traveling within wards. It would be a great timesaver for him if he could slide within Hogwarts. He would also not have to worry about getting caught visiting the Chamber everyday. It would make so many things easier. He could not use it near his friends but Hogwarts would open up to him completely if he mastered it.

It didn't look too difficult. Since he had already mastered the first stage of traveling, apparation, this would be a breeze. He could apparate silently at will and this would just be one step further. He would have to think consciously that he is within wards and take into account that he need not travel beyond them. He had to concentrate to travel more… earthly. There was no need to completely let go as he did during apparation. He thought of it like skating on ice. He had to concentrate on that feeling and apparate. He decided to read up a bit more so that he did not make any mistakes. It would be difficult to explain if he got splinched.

XXXX

Harry continued to show his prowess at Potion making. The instructions written by the so called Half Blood Prince were not decipherable for many cases but he knew the actual process. Slughorn was delighted with his development. He was raving about his abilities by his fourth class.

Neither Ron nor Hermione seemed happy about this. Ron was not happy simply because he was jealous that Harry was doing so well and he could not copy him. Harry even offered Ron the book, hoping to appease him while internally smirking when Ron failed to decipher the notes.

Hermione was miffed and was bad tempered as she diligently followed "official" instructions from a "prescribed" book. She was affronted that Harry was not following the course book but was getting the best grades. She was almost ready to though up a hissy fit when her brewing yielded poorer results than Harry's. She was too set into prescribed ways. She would never be an innovative witch. She could not think realistically or innovatively to become anything more than a desk pusher or a standard auror. For all her researching abilities, she would never be a spell inventor or potions researcher. To her, books were god and what they say must be followed.

Harry found instructions for spells that seemed to have been invented by this Half Blood Prince. He did not tell Ron and Hermione about it but he mentioned that the book belonged to a Half Blood Prince. Hermione, still annoyed at him, wanted to prove him wrong and insisted that it might be a witch rather than a wizard. Who cared about that?

During the first week, he hardly had time. He got back into routine of using the chamber the exercise and practice spells. He mastered Sliding in three days. He could travel anywhere within the Hogwarts wards instantaneously. He could shock Hermione by proving to her that one could apparate within Hogwarts even if it wasn't apparation technically. He continued to study the battle magic books he got from the Black Library long ago. They were more efficient than the battle magic books in the chamber as he had discovered. If he got bored, he consulted Runes and Rituals. They were interesting but did not meet his major interests.

He had promised himself that he would talk to Luna but he did not have time to talk to her in the first week.

The first Saturday at school brought about his first lesson with Dumbledore. As he had thought, Dumbledore was playing games with him again. He was still hiding things from him while trying to be earnest to Harry. Harry played the scared little teenager who was determined to win. Harry was respectful, while trying to find out something more than Dumbledore intended him to know.

Bob Ogden's memory proved to Harry that inbred pureblood idiots were insane. He made correct deduction of who Morfin, Merope and Marvolo were along with Tom Riddle senior. It was very useful information. The past of the Gaunt family gave him many an insight into Voldemort's past, as was the intention of Dumbledore. He also let Dumbledore see his thinking when he used _Legilimency _on him. He locked away his suspicions in shadows. His reverse black hole wall should have raised suspicions but Dumbledore was only scanning his surface thoughts.

Harry made the connection that the ring shown by Marvolo was the same that Dumbledore wore on his injured hand when they had visited Slughorn. Dumbledore cut off the conversation when Harry got a bit too inquisitive, saying that it was not yet time to know that information yet.

If this was the way the "lessons" with Dumbledore were going to be, everyone was in big trouble. Sure, it was well and good that you should know your enemy. But what should one do after you know your enemy? Kiss him to death with "love" that Dumbledore told was his power? If Dumbledore expected Harry to fight Voldemort, information alone is not enough, he should know enough magic to actually pose a threat to him. Granted, Harry actually knew more than Dumbledore expected, but Harry knew he was not near the level of Voldemort, yet. He would be, one day. Oh Well! It seemed Harry was on his own in this war.

XXXX

Sunday found Harry roaming around Hogwarts. Ron and Hermione were busy finishing homework. He had already finished his in his free periods and late nights at the chamber. Currently, he was moving silently in the dungeons.

Harry spotted two Slytherins of his year, Daphne Greengrass and Blaise Zabini lounging in an unused classroom, far away from the regular Slytherin territory. Since he wanted to have a chance with Daphne, he decided to drop in.

He casually strode in to the classroom, disregarding their pointed wands. He closed the door and sat down comfortably on the sofa in front of them. They were shocked to see and his actions.

He observed them silently while he waited for them to regain their wits. Blaise was a tall, dark boy with slanted eyes. His dark brown eyes were shrewd and calculating. He had a lean build and he was quite handsome. He wore expensive silk robes as usual which were elegant and expertly tailored.

Daphne had a sexy creamy complexion with a hint of tan. Her elegant hair was as range of various shades of brownish black color. The silky smooth and very long hair framed her oval face wonderfully. Her eyes were a startling, crystalline blue. Her luscious, ruby red lips begged to be kissed. She was unbelievably beautiful. She was tall from what he could make out. He would bet anything and everything he had that she had an hourglass figure under those magnificent robes. Hell! She looked hot even with robes on, hiding her salient features. It was no wonder she was the most desired witch in Hogwarts along with Ginny. Such beauty could never be found in the muggle world. While Ginny's was ethereal, the only word to describe Daphne's beauty was _magical_.

He was wearing a black silk shirt and black pants. It was the best attire to blend into the shadows and roam unspotted. He felt so undressed before her and Zabini but it made him look good. So who cared?

Both of them recovered very quickly. Blaise asked snidely "Got Lost Potter? Or have you come to spy on us? Was Malfoy's punishment not enough for you?"

Harry just grinned and asked mockingly "My, my, aren't we inquisitive today Zabini? I was merely taking a walk. A bloke can take a walk cant he?"

"What do you want Potter? The high and mighty Gryffindors do not venture this far into the dungeons. Even Slytherins rarely do" Daphne interrupted coolly. Even with her indifferent tone, her voice had a tenor that he found irresistible. The more he learnt about her, the more alluring she became. He just had to get her. He would pursue her to hell and back.

"Why, thank you for the compliment Daphne dearest" Harry replied cheekily.

"Don't call me that Potter. Its Greengrass to you, or better yet, don't talk to me at all" Daphne snapped. Her clear crystalline blue eyes were narrowed at him but there was a fire behind those eyes that he found himself drawn to.

"Cool down beautiful. Why would anyone not want my vaulted company?"

"Ah yes. The 'chosen one' graces us with his presence" Zabini said mockingly, "Go bother someone who is devoted to you Potter."

"That is precisely the reason I am here. Everyone is so in awe of me that I cannot have an intelligent conversation. You are not in awe of me, so you can do the honor of engaging my brain" he said imperiously. He was seriously behaving like a snob but it was too much fun to rile them up. He was out-Slytherin-ing the Slytherin students.

They both looked at each other a second and Daphne replied "Alright Potter. Let us see how intelligent you are. Tell me Potter, is magic possible without a wand?"

Harry pouted. Did they have to get serious so soon? He was having fun. Damned spoilsports! He sighed theatrically and replied "Of course it is. There is Potions, Astronomy, Arithmancy, Runes and so many other branches…" he paused when Daphne was about to rudely mock him, "but… if you are talking about spells, that too is possible. Wand is used to focus magic. There are many ways to focus magic without a wand."

Daphne looked surprised at his answer while Blaise leaned back. It seemed as though Daphne would do the questioning for now while Blaise watched.

"Okay. You got lucky that time because everyone knows that Dumbledore can do wandless magic. Being his golden toy… sorry boy, you would know it. Second question, what is Dumbledore's weakness?" she asked staring into his eyes directly. The zeal behind her beautiful eyes was far too appealing to Harry.

Harry was a bit incensed at her implication that he was Dumbledore's toy, but it was how he seemed to all others. She was taking a big chance asking Dumbledore's weakness. Harry knew she was not with any faction and who knows what she might do with that information. He had to give her something good yet which would not help her too much. So he answered "Dumbledore puts too much trust into people and always wants to be in control. Any half wit idiot could know he was arranging things behind the scenes if they knew where to look."

Zabini remained stoic but Daphne was once again surprised at his answer. She further asked "Not bad Potter. You may not be as dumb as we thought. So finally tell me, what are _your_ weaknesses?"

Harry grinned charmingly and replied "Beautiful girls like you of course. Why? Are you interested in poor old me?"

Harry smirked when she flushed even though her facial expression showed annoyance. He also caught the look of amusement in Zabini's eyes.

Before she could recover, he got up and said in a lazy drawl "But… it is time I move on from this delightful company. My adoring fans are waiting for me after all. Until next time Daphne dear" He took her hand from the armrest and kissed the back of it. He waved his hand at Zabini and walked out whistling happily.

He could hear Zabini's chuckles and Daphne's sputtering. Score! It was good to be Harry Potter. He had become enamored with her more than he had believed possible. Daphne had a brilliant mind to back her irresistible beauty. He remembered ogling at her with the rest of the guys during the Charms O.W.L, but now she was infinitely more interesting. He celebrated that night in the chamber by drinking up half a muggle whiskey bottle. He usually drank once a week and got refills at the Three Broomsticks from Madame Rosmerta or as she insisted, Rosie.

XXXX

Harry was getting more and flashes of emotions from his animagus form. He was being more playful when he wanted to be, like with Daphne and Zabini. The bad thing was that he was getting frustrated easily too. He found Hermione to be far more irritable than usual. Dumbledore's calmness was infuriating. His emotions were going haywire. He needed an outlet. Practicing spells in the Chamber every night didn't calm him as there was no one to pit himself against. Flying was a possibility but he was not finding time. And to think, it was only one week into school!

He had to find a confidant and fast. He had felt a bit better after he had told some things to Amelia Bones. Susan Bones had actually come to Hogwarts this year. Thinking of his promise to Amelia Bones, he decided to talk her one of these days. She was also pretty good looking. Hmm… She was worth a talk but not as a confidant. He was thinking more and more with his dick these days.

Luna had offered to talk to him openly last year. Maybe he could talk to her. She had known about him for some time and to his knowledge, she had yet to tell anyone. He would not know if she had indeed told anyone but he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. So, the first Monday on the second week of school, Harry was off searching for Luna Lovegood. He needed no one to fight his battles but the aftermath and the base support was what he needed.

'Damn!' he thought frustratedly 'it is only one week and I need therapy. Dumbledore and Voldemort have made me go to a shrink at the age of 16! He was too young to be insane.'

Using the Marauder's Map, it was not difficult to find her at all. It was an hour after dinner and he had plenty of time before curfew. He Slid (verb of Sliding – an act of using the method of traveling known as Sliding) to the corridor near the humpback witch in the fourth floor which he observed was free of students. Luna was only a couple of corridors away.

He walked in her direction and soon they came face to face. She was still dreamy eyes but for a moment, he noticed a glimmer of curiosity in them. She asked him vacantly "So Harry Potter, did you know you have an infestation of niskimpts?"

Harry grinned. She could get a laugh out of him any day. "Any chance I can talk to Luna?"

"Is Harry is asking", she answered, "then yes."

He held out his hand and told her "Come on then. Take my hand and we will go to a secure place."

Luna dropped the façade of Loony. Without the dreamy eyes and the vacant expression on her face, Harry had to admit that Luna was fairly attractive. Nothing breathtaking like Daphne or Ginny but Luna was definitely a looker. Lustrous blond locks framed her oval face and her earnest blue eyes compelled you to watch them.

He forced his amorous thoughts out of his head and clasped her hand tightly. He had never Slid with anyone else before. He was already using Sliding to go into the chamber and leave it to avoid bumping into Moaning Martyle.

Harry had decided that Luna would be the first to know about the chamber. He would not show her the entrance but he would directly take her to a large bedroom he had found. It had a pretty large sitting area where they could talk.

First, he checked with the Marauder Map that there was no one around them. Once that was cleared, he concentrated on the sitting area in the bedroom of the chamber and Slid there. Since it felt like skating, both lost their balance and topped into an armchair.

Harry helped her up and apologetically told her "Sorry Luna. This was the first time I tried it with another person."

When he looked at her, Harry was treated to the rarest sight of a shocked Luna Lovegood. She was always unfazed, be it threats, losing her possessions, adventure, facing death. It was quite a comical sight. Her blue eyes almost bulged out of their sockets and her mouth was open enough to put a whole loaf of bread inside. He could tell she was intelligent enough to have figured out something about the location. It wasn't terribly difficult with the Slytherin décor and small viper statues in the four corners.

When he snapped his fingers in front of her, she regained her wits amazingly quickly. With a small smile on her face, she asked him "Nice place you got here Harry. I presume this is the fabled Chamber of Secrets built by Salazar Slytherin?"

"You are of course right my dear Ravenclaw friend. Welcome to the Chamber of Secrets" Harry announced with a flourish.

"So, have you brought me here to talk something important or is it just a ploy to get me in bed?" she asked coyly.

Harry was momentarily shocked since Luna had never showed this much emotion or flirted with anyone as far as he knew. "Oh, I wouldn't mind but I'd rather talk. You are the first person who has seen through my façade Luna. As far as I know, you haven't told anyone. I need a person to trust and work out issues with and I hope you are that person Luna" he finished earnestly. It was the first time he had really asked anyone for help. He had always managed everything on his own.

Luna suddenly went into a business like mode "Okay. You have trust issues and I don't blame you for being paranoid. I have to give you some reason to trust me. And I know what to do."

She knelt to the ground in front of him and placed his hand on her head. She looked into his eyes and spoke formally "I, Luna Latvius Lovegood, offer my eternal allegiance and loyalty to Harry James Potter, who I accept as my lord. My magic for you to wield, my mind for you to command and my body for you to use, I offer thee my all. A witch's pledge, I pledge to three."

There was no flash of light or a wand giving of sparks signifying an oath. A wand was not involved in such an oath. But an oath had been made, the most powerful of oaths, a Witch's Pledge. This Pledge was designed at a time when women were totally subservient to men. The concubines and consorts of powerful people made such a pledge. This meant that the wizard would always be able to control and order the witch in this life and the next. The truly ingenious thing about this Pledge was that there was no bond formed between the two unlike other similar oaths like a marriage oath. This Pledge was the ultimate show of faith and loyalty.

Harry was truly shocked by Luna's actions. He knew about a Witch's Pledge but he never expected her to go that far to prove that she was trustable. With this oath, he controlled all aspects of her, mind, body and magic. He could order her to keep everything he said to her a secret and no truth potion or spell could remove that information from her. Even Veritaserum and Legilimency couldn't extract that information. He was really humbled by her faith and her trust in him.

"Thank you" he said thickly, overcome with emotion, "Luna, you have no idea what this means to me. I have always been alone even surrounded by people. I have always relied on myself even when everyone supported me. I… I… Thank you."

Luna made him sit on the sofa and sat beside him. This was the first time she had seen him so full of emotion that was not grief or rage. His eyes were completely open and very grateful to her.

"You need people who solely want to help _you_ Harry. I am honored to be one of them" she told him gently.

Harry got his emotions under control and slowly told her the unfurnished truth of his life. He left out nothing of his short but yet eventful life. She sat with him, listening to him, quietly comforting him as he told his tale. She showed more emotion in this one meeting than the entire period after her mother's death. She made proper expressions during his tale and her respect for the wizard before her grew by bounds and leaps. She was not in awe of him to be a fan girl but, she admired him. He was an amazing person and his accomplishments were nothing short of incredible.

Telling everything to her was very liberating and very tiring. He was never this wrung out before. But he was glad to have someone solely in his corner.

Finally, after he finished, Luna told him "Harry, don't take this the wrong and think that I am a Boy Who Lived fan or something, but I am amazed, truly. I don't think anyone could have done what you have done. Your drive and determination along with your affinity of magic is something that is unbelievable. You are not just a genius Harry, you are more… a prodigy of magic. There will never be anyone as good as you in Hogwarts for a long time. I don't think even Voldemort was this dedicated when he was in school."

Harry took the complement as it was given, it was not something an awed worshipper would say, it was more like a person appreciating the effort and dedication. "Thank you Luna. But I think with enough incentive, many in the school could have achieved what I did if they had the resources. Hermione is brilliant and very intelligent. She almost caught me many times due to my minor slips. Ron is good at chess strategy and given some training, he might be really good at actual battle strategy. You are more perceptive than even Dumbledore and that insight could have enabled you to learn more about magic than I could. I am sure that there are many in Ravenclaw…"

Luna interrupted him shaking her head in denial, "You don't understand Harry. You adapt to situations almost instantly and work things out to your advantage. You make precise judgments and are a great leader. You plan efficiently. Everyone looks to Ron for strategy but as you said he is no good at battle strategy. His capabilities begin and end on a chessboard. He has good ideas for Quidditch only because he has memorized the Quidditch Though the Ages and a Chudley Canons book. In real life, there are too many parameters to deal with and the danger is too real. Ron will fail. He is actually a liability if you take him along for a battle."

"As for Hermione, she clamps up in the face of danger. You had to tell her what to do during our ministry fiasco. She might be intelligent but she has no realistic view of life. Even Ravenclaws know that life is different from books. I guess that is the reason she was not put in Ravenclaw. That is her blinding flaw. She might know all the spells, but what use is she if she doesn't use them at the right time? She has no instinctual grasp of magic like you do. Her grades and supposed intelligence comes from hours of diligent study and repeated practice. She is not talented at magic like you are, she just has superb memory and is very hard working. I think she would rather make a fine Hufflepuff."

"Both Ron and Hermione are useless in a battle, especially Ron. He is not that powerful, nor does he have what it takes to survive a true battle. But he is good for a second in command, he follows the leader's direction and passes orders to others. I have only insight on people Harry and even though I observe things, I do not have the drive to excel at magic that you do. You, on the other hand are a true tactical genius Harry. You can take one look at the situation and create a plan to effectively achieve your goal. Apart from that, if you give enough thought, you can plan strategically too. Your actions regarding Dumbledore and hiding your abilities and knowledge is a blaring strategic move. Don't ever sell yourself short Harry. You deserve what you have accomplished and be proud of it."

"Alright Luna, I get it. I guess this is one of the reasons I looked forward to have someone to really talk to without hiding everything. It was really a good thing that you are this perceptive and observed me. I think I would have broken apart from the stress and frustration if I kept this all in" Harry admitted.

"It is human nature Harry" Luna told him.

Looking at his watch, Harry saw that it was almost curfew. "Yikes! It is very late. But before you go, when is your birthday Luna?"

"Its on July 2 Harry. Why do you ask?" she asked curiously.

Harry grinned and replied "I got just the thing for your birthday present. Just wait for me to go and get it."

He got up and Slid to the chamber library. He Slid back carrying the book and gave it to her "Sorry that I cant gift wrap it. Consider this my belated gift."

Luna saw the title of the book and was shocked and very happy. It was "Creatures: Myth, Legend and Fact". The author was not mentioned but almost every animal enthusiast knew of the book. This book was so rare that the only known copy was displayed in the "Lost Books" section of the ministry library. It was not accessible by anyone and to have a copy of such a book was unimaginable. Luna had always liked animals and this book was the bible of everything a person needs to know about animals.

Luna hugged Harry tightly and said gratefully "This is so… wonderful. Thank you Harry, you have made me the happiest girl in the school today."

Harry accepted her warm hug and told her "I have an enormous library here Luna. Most of the books are a millennia old and mostly contain dark arts. But there are many good books here and you can use them whenever you want. Now, we have to go. We will meet tomorrow okay?"

"Sure Harry" she said, too overwhelmed by his generosity.

Harry looked in the Marauders map for a safe spot and Slid there with Luna. They skidded a meter or two when they landed but thankfully did not fall down. Luna again hugged him and thanked him before going to her dorm.

XXXX


	7. Conversations

**Chapter 7: Conversations**

Harry and Luna met up almost daily and used the chamber. Nobody missed them much. Luna was a social outcast. Harry did not have many friends other than Ron and Hermione. Ginny was busy somewhere, Hermione was too involved in schoolwork to notice anything and Ron was dreaming about Quidditch too much these days.

Luna was awed by Harry's magical power and his knowledge. They would have an hour at most in the Chamber and Harry showed her some spells she could do. He did not work out physically or learn more in that time. He did those things at night when everyone was asleep. When he was with Luna, they had discussions on a particular branch of magic everyday for 10 minutes or so. And then, Harry taught her the basics of Focus casting. He wanted her to be able to defend herself properly and she was always interested to learn something new. Focus casting did not come easy for her and he admitted that he also took a few months to master it. He gave her the book that helped him immensely, _Magic – The Reality_. It was the book he had found in his fourth year.

They also talked about anything that struck Harry. It was like having a venting and sounding board for his thoughts and ideas. Luna helped him calm down generally by having him work out his frustrations and talk about them. She told him in the beginning itself that she was no mind healer or a therapist, just a friend. They formed a quick and solid friendship. In many ways, Luna became closer to him more than Ron and Hermione.

During the many times they met that week, Harry never once encountered Loony, the persona that Luna had created to cope with her mother's death. Luna was intelligent enough to not bore him. It was actually enjoyable to have conversations with her.

Apart from his physical exercises in his nightly visits, Harry read up on teleportation. He wanted to master all types of Traveling. Since he mastered Apparation and Sliding very quickly, he hoped that it would be the same for Teleportation. But he did not want to take chances and get splinched. So, he read all the information he could find on Teleportation in the Chamber library. The school library did not contain anything about Sliding or Teleportation. What he read discouraged him.

Teleportation was not as simple as Apparation or Sliding. There were many things to take into account before trying to teleport. The wards which a wizard was in matter a lot when teleporting. Apparently, the techniques involved in both Sliding and Apparation needed to be combined to Teleport. Teleportation was also mentioned to take a lot of magical power compared to Sliding and Apparation. There were no barriers in Apparation and hence it took very little magical energy. Sliding also took little energy but it was more than Apparation as the wizard had to slide along the wards inside a warded area. But Teleportation involved going through a set of wards. So, the more powerful the wards were, the more magical power it would take to Teleport through the wards.

Harry decided to wait a little bit more before trying Teleportation. With his magic fluctuating more frequently, he could not chance such a large undertaking which required much more magical power. Also, he needed a bit more practice with Apparation and Sliding before he attempted Teleportation.

XXXX

The following Friday, he got a note requesting a meeting with Dumbledore. Wow! Two weeks and two meetings! Harry wondered what Dumbledore wished to tell him now.

At 8PM, he made his way to the headmaster's office as requested. He said the password "Puking Pastile" and rode up the stairs to the door. After a customary "Come in Harry", he went in and seated himself in front of Dumbledore. The office was almost same as before. Apart from a few missing silver trinkets which Harry did not feel sorry for, the office was pretty much the same. Fawkes was not in his perch and the portraits were pretending to be asleep. Harry prepared his mind and checked his barriers and shadows cloaking his thoughts. He did not want to reveal anything to Dumbledore. If he caught Dumbledore snooping in his mind, which he was sure would happen this time, Harry would claim that he had learnt Occlumency on his own as was practicing regularly.

Dumbledore was smiling happily. He asked Harry cheerily "Ah, Harry. How was you week? Would you like a sweet?"

"No thank you. I am fine sir. The classes are a bit hectic though" Harry said wishing that Dumbledore would get to the point.

"Yes… Yes… The last two years are on a tight schedule. Why I remember the time when I was a student and I struggled a lot more. I was not that good a student you see dear boy, like you" Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling kindly.

"Er… Right professor. So are you going to teach me something or are we looking into Voldemort's past again?" Harry asked a bit awkwardly. Awkwardness to compliment was what Dumbledore expected from him. It wouldn't do for the Boy Who Lived to be arrogant and self independent. He had to be humble. Dumbledore's little tests were irritating. Many people would not have noticed them to be for what they are and slip up but Harry was too clever to see though him.

Dumbledore smiled brightly "Alas it is a more simple matter I wish to discuss with you today. Professor Snape has told me that no one in the class except for some students are performing up to standards in nonverbal spells. But he has also told me that many of the class were sufficiently capable in performing spells verbally." Here Dumbledore gave Harry a wink and said "I did not tell him however that the students he mentioned were capable were members of your own educational club, the DA, Dumbledore's Army, I believe."

Harry cursed himself. He should have known that Snape would notice some of the spells that the others in the class cast when he was not looking at them. He guessed Dumbledore was tell him this to give him some pride but he was shocked by his next words "That is why I have decided to allow your defense club to continue and I request you to open it to the students of all houses fourth year and above. You would have the singular control over the club and the staff would be very willing to help you in anyway you require. Is that acceptable Harry?"

Harry knew it wasn't meant to be a choice but a command to open the club again. It would mean reduced hours and being under constant scrutiny of people. He didn't want that. Dumbledore didn't want him left alone and unoccupied to think too much. He wanted Harry occupied, distracted so that he didn't ask too many questions. Harry decided to take a chance and he replied in a regretful voice, even though he was a bit angry inside "I am sorry sir. I am too busy this year. The schoolwork is more complex and the homework is a lot more than last year. I am also the Quidditch captain for this year and I have to work on that too. So, I really cannot help the students to my fullest capability. I do not have time to run the DA again sir." Internally his thoughts were along a different track _'You can teach them if you are so worried. It is your job after all. I am not a professor to teach them anything and I definitely do not want to teach a bunch of hypocrites and possible enemies of the future. It would not do for others to know how good I am with spells so that they can report to Voldemort or you. If the students are so interested, they can learn on their own as I have done. The library has more than enough books and there are professors who help if asked.'_

The twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes dimmed and his voice was sad indicating disappointment "I was hoping that you would make extra time to help others Harry. You know what they face outside the school and I wish you would show them how to defend themselves." _'So think you can play me into submission with guilt eh? How about a dose of your own medicine?'_

Harry replied just as sadly, his voice dripping with regret "I want to help them professor, I really do. But I am still trying to cope with Sirius… Sirius being gone and all this year's work. I am so sorry professor but I cannot really start the DA again." _'Hah! Take that!'_

Dumbledore seemed to wilt a bit and said mournfully "Alas, I had thought about that dear boy. I hope you are coping well with his loss. I know you are sad but I wish you would see into the bright future. His sacrifice should inspire you to work harder and help to get rid of Voldemort. We are all there for you Harry. You are never alone. Should you need any help, please ask me and I will help you." _'Always trying to mold me into a soldier aren't you? Even using the death of Sirius like this. Implying subtly that Sirius was not that significant, you senile bastard. Have you no shame?'_

"Very well then Harry, I shall not force you to do something against your will. Now…" Dumbledore stopped suddenly and had his wand in his hand. He whispered _Legilimens_ while pointing his wand at Harry.

Harry had expected this but even then it was sudden. Dumbledore's probe was smother and more refined than the harsh and brutal probe of Snape. Dumbledore encountered his shrouded surface thoughts and couldn't get through. The probe suddenly reduced in size greatly as Dumbledore tried to sneak through. His outer thoughts were not connected to shadows but only shrouded by them unlike his thoughts behind the anti black hole shield. If Harry parted the shadows, the attacker would be able to see the thoughts. Dumbledore would get suspicious if didn't get anything. Harry could easily hold him at bay unless he tried different tricks. So, Harry parted the shadows, seemingly unwillingly and let Dumbledore view his thoughts and ideas for the Quidditch tryouts the next day. He let Dumbledore read his general thoughts, eagerness to see new talent, small pride at being the captain and nervousness about his duties.

Harry knew that modern books thought of minds like a place and visualized it as a vast location of some kind according to the specific wizard. Many structured their minds like a castle or a manor or a building with many doors and windows, giving a master Legilimens numerous hypothetical points of entry into their minds. But in reality, there was no difference of distance in the mind. A Legilimens cannot attack at one place at one and another place at another time. There were no two different places in a mind. Everything that the mind was, it was a single entity. If there was a probe, it was everywhere at once, not just in one place. This was why most people failed at Occlumency. A master Legilimens would view the mind as a single entity and get through the hypothetical "other" place in the mind than the "one place" the Occlumens was defending. Harry had no such illusions about the mind and hence he knew that a probe almost encompassed his mind and he thought of his mind as a singular entity thereby nullifying the strategy of attacking at different places, since in his brain, different places did not exist.

Harry saw the surprise and suspicion in Dumbledore's eyes which were quickly hidden by fake elation. "Excellent" Dumbledore exclaimed gaily "Well done dear boy well done. I did not expect you to be proficient at Occlumency this soon. It would have taken others years to be where you are. Keep practicing Harry and you will have your mind completely protected in a few months. I am glad the lessons with professor Snape helped you so much. I must commend you both for putting away your animosity towards each other to achieve such success."

'_Was this guy even listening to himself? He knew that Snape taught him nothing, he had told me myself at the end of last year. Has he finally gone around the bend?'_ Harry shook his head in denial and said "Thank you sir. But Snape…"

"Professor Snape Harry" Dumbledore chided gently.

"right… professor Snape didn't help me at all. I learnt all this on my own. I did not want to repeat the mistake and lose… someone again. Before leaving the school last year, I read some books from the library about this and I practiced it at Privet drive and the Burrow professor." _'There you go. A fine piece of acting if I say so myself. Give the greasy git the complements will you? Take that you old turd.'_

Dumbledore eyes seemed sad again "I wish it were not so. But well done Harry. We will talk more later."

Recognizing the dismissal, Harry made his way out of the office and smirked. It was nice to have Dumbledore unhinged like that but it would be detrimental if he did it regularly. Once in a while would be good to keep him away a bit but doing it too often would raise suspicion and he couldn't have that. But it was a good session for Harry and a bad one for Dumbledore. The little games continued.

XXXX

He found an interesting little book from the books be brought from the Grimmauld place. It was titled _Battle Magic, the History_ by _Septimus Smith_.

It was a very short book covering only 30 odd pages and it was published in the year 1723. It was the only book remaining from his haul of the Grimmauld place library. He had exhausted all the books on Battle Magic from the Grimmauld Place library. He had already resolved to not use any Battle Magic books from the Chamber since they all took considerably more magic to cast and levels of damage from both sets of books were almost the same. In fact, in some cases, the spells in the Battle Magic books of the Blacks were far more destructive than the ones in the Chamber. He had deduced that the Battle Magic books in the Grimmauld place library contained Battle Magic that could only be wielded by the members of the Black family i.e. those that had the Black blood. Harry knew he had some Black blood and hence he could use the Battle Magic of the Blacks. It was easy to make this deduction since the books were charmed so that only people with Black blood could read them.

Another major advantage of the Battle magic spells he found in the Black family books were that they were made for Focus casting. They did not specify any wand movements or even that it should have been done with a wand. In fact, it was stated that only a focus was required since true wandless Battle magic was not possible due to enormous amounts of magic required even for the simplest of wandless Battle magic. Harry was proficient at Focus casting and this was perfect for him. There was no need to learn any wand movements or practice them. The added bonus was that only he could read these books and hence only he could use this magic. Anyone facing him wouldn't know what he exactly he was facing other than the fact that he was going against a practitioner of Battle Magic.

The start of the book, _Battle Magic, the History_ went as follows:

**_Battle Magic – What is that?_**

_Battle magic is the branch of magic that is focused on destruction and conquering opponents. Battlemage is a title given to the wizard who is proficient at Battle Magic. There are rumors of spells that could level entire villages in Battle Magic. Supposedly there are many levels of Battle Magic. But that information is not known to the wizarding world anymore. _

_The reason that there are only speculation and rumors rather than precise information about Battle Magic and Battlemages is because there is only one family which is known to practice true Battle Magic – the Blacks._

_There are many spells that are designed for destruction and defeat by others. All these other spells were imitations of the Battle Magic witnessed from the Blacks. The creators were awed at the power of the Battle Magic and hence created spells to mimic the effects of the witnessed spells. The offensive power of the newly created spells were severely lacking compared to the true spells._

_There is only one recorded incident where a wizard who learnt and practiced the newly crafted Battle Spells had challenged the then head of Black family. This wizard was known to have won the dueling tournaments all throughout the world and was proclaimed as the greatest dueler of age. He had aided the ministry in complete destruction of many rogue wizards who were preying on the villages of magical people._

_The duel gained a lot of interest in the public and was scheduled to occur in a stadium built for a newly formed Quidditch team, the Chudley Cannons. It was the year 1574 and after this duel, nobody dared to challenge a Black again._

_The head of the Black family, Lord Dorean Ignis Black was quoted to be amused by the challenge. The challenger was the scion of the Malfoy family, Scion Abreus Fuvol Malfoy. The Malfoy family was also known to have powerful offensive magical capabilities. Offensive magic is only known Major Affinity of the Malfoy family. It was said that the Malfoy family wanted to be known as the best at offensive magics and had always had rivalry with the famed Battle Magic of the Blacks. _

_Scores of people turned up to watch the duel. The mystery regarding the Black family's Battle magic was intriguing. The Black family never interfered in any of the wars in all known English history but were known to produce true Battlemages. The term Battlemage was invented by and for the Black family exclusively. It was rumored to be bestowed upon them in the year 817 after they completely destroyed the largest attacking force of Vampires in the Wizard – Vampire war. The 6 wizards in the family not only successfully defended their home they also completely obliterated the 150 attacking vampires. They caused the end of that war single handedly which the then ruling body failed to do for 7 long years. _

_There are also unconfirmed rumors about Lord Pathor Black, the head of the family in the year 1300. It was rumored that he was the singularly responsible for the destruction of an entire clan of Giants in northeast England. As it is known, Giants are notoriously hard to kill even by a group of aurors due to their magically resistant skin and sheer power. Lord Pathor Black is said to have chased after the clan of Giants willingly and proceeded to annihilate each and every one of the clan. The reasons for such supposed destruction was never known._

_Since then, there had been speculations and doubts that the Black family is really capable of such feats. But the duel confirmed it and more._

_The two wizards agreed to a battle and not a duel since it was a test of battle magic. There was no decorum of a duel and many families protested to such a "barbaric" practice. But the so called "duel" was held._

_And it was reported to be a show of magic that none in that stadium would ever forget. Lord Black shielded himself against all the attacks by Scion Malfoy without firing one offensive spell. The spells used were proved to bring down entire walls and they did nothing but wilt against the shield. Lord Black then informed the watching public that this was not the most powerful shield known to the Black family. _

_Lord Black chose to attack when Scion Malfoy showed signs of fatigue. Three spells were all it took to defeat the Scion Malfoy. The first spell caused a blaze of fire that extended up to 100 meters and was barely stopped by Scion Malfoy. The next spell was miraculously dodged by the Scion Malfoy. It was a bludgeoning spell so strong that the stand behind the Scion Malfoy, 200 meters away collapsed immediately. The final spell was a comparatively mild spell. It bound the Scion Malfoy with iron and petrified him. It took a combined team of 10 of ministry's most powerful spell casters to disable that spell. _

_The duel was documented in the ministry and to this day has served as a warning to all families to never challenge a Black._

_**Battle Magic – Mystery**_

_I have researched for many decades to confirm this information. There has been one mystery that has been unsolved regarding the usage of Battle Magic. Black family, as any proud family, produced amazingly powerful witches and wizards. They married into prominent wizarding families._

_It baffles me that while all members have affinity for offensive magics, especially Battle magic, the cousins of the Blacks have never had any such affinity. The children of the witches of the Black family never had any affinity for real offensive Magic. It was as though the capabilities of the Black family stayed strictly inside the family. There was even one recorded event where a witch of Black family was actually trained in Battle Magic against her father's orders. She was also found to be extremely competent at offensive magics. But, the affinity died with her. Her son, on the other hand, had no affinity for offensive magic at all._

_On the other hand, from what limited information I could gather, there has been no affinity shown by any child of Black other than the family's. Even the marriage between a Black and a witch from the powerful Dumbledore family produced a child proficient in offensive magics. The child had no capability in the arts of Advanced Transfiguration which the Dumbledore family is famous for._

_What is the power of the Black blood that keeps everything within the family? No abilities or affinities are either gained or lost from the family. All the heads of the Black family have thus far never given any information in this regard. This has been the one true mystery of the wizarding world that has been all but abandoned due to lack of information._

Harry was really intrigued at this information. He stopped reading the book to think. Assuming that the information in the book was true, it should not be possible for him to wield the Black family's Battle Magic. He had never known that the Black family was so infamous. How was he able to read and perform the Battle Magic spells that were solely restricted to the primary branch of the Black family? Did he have any affinity that was reported for Potter family? He would have to check it somewhere. Was this the product of the prophesy? Was this the "power the dark lord" did not know?

But with a reputation like that, Harry decided that his primary goal was to learn to be a Battlemage.

XXXX

Weekends brought a lot of relief for the sixth years. If there was one major problem with the wizarding world, it was that everyone followed others. There was no leader or an innovative thinker. And when one arrived, he was almost god – like Dumbledore and Voldemort.

There was a lot of stigma about traditions and such at Hogwarts. Always wearing robes was one. Harry noticed that even muggleborns wore robes all the time they were in the wizarding world. Harry never understood why. Harry only wore robes all the time before because he did not have decent muggle clothing until now and he preferred not to wear his school uniform all the time.

Since Harry was thinking of rebelling all the time, he couldn't resist simple digs into purebloods and Dumbledore's control. So at the start of the year, he had decided to enjoy this year. One of the things was doing things like he liked to do. He had always found muggle clothes more comfortable than a "blow away and show my privates" robes. So, every weekend, Harry wore good muggle clothes from the lot that Fleur helped him buy in France.

Since Harry was very fit physically unlike pureblood wizards, it showed when he wore tight fitting muggle clothes. Girls took more notice of him and he loved that kind of attention.

The morning of the Quidditch trials was no different. He found it fun to goad Hermione. She was pretty short the whole week and he wished that she would get a long, hard shag to relieve her. He absolutely refused to return the Half Blood Prince's book to Slughorn when he got a new copy of the textbook. He exchanged the covers, much to Hermione's disapproval. He would never give up the chance of showing her and the whole school up in potions. He needed to have a legitimate reason to be good and the ruse of a helpful textbook was the best. He could then use his knowledge freely to outscore everyone who taught him dull.

The news was the same as always. Stan Shunpike was an idiot and Harry did not care about more idiotic sheep. Hearing that Eloise Midgen had withdrawn was news to him. He really hoped that the Patil twins wouldn't leave Hogwarts as their parents demanded. They were nice to watch and he hoped to shag one this year, hopefully Padma.

Only when Hermione pointed out that Dumbledore was not regularly present for meals in the second week of school did he notice it. He almost danced with glee in the great hall as he realized that. As soon as that thought entered his mind, he frowned. He was never the one for public jubilation. He chalked it up to the emotions bleeding over from the Grim again.

Harry almost gagged when Ron strutted like Malfoy due to a little attention from Lavender. Ron was hopeless and unless Lavender practically jumped him, he wouldn't get a clue.

The Quidditch tryout was seriously annoying. The fans of the Boy Who Lived were numerous and the actual Quidditch hopefuls were few. He was flattered, really he was but interrupting the tryouts like that was irritating.

The team was finally picked –Katie Bell, Demelza Robins and Ginny as Chasers, Jimmy Peakes and Ritchie Coote as Beaters and Ron as Keeper. The idiot Cormac McLaggen really grated on his nerves. He was rude, insulted and demanded things that were ridiculous. He was right git. But even with Hermione's helping hand to Ron, he would not call for a retrial. Hermione probably thought he didn't notice it but he did.

Meeting Hagrid was a bit pitiful. Hagrid was his first friend in the magical world and Harry didn't want to alienate him. Aragog's death was a troubling thing. Aragog was the only one who those giant eight legs listened to. If he died, he didn't know what they would do. Harry did not react to Hermione's explanation that all the time turners were destroyed during the ministry fiasco. He had seen quite a few intact ones in the time room when he was there. It was just another ministry bluff, but for what, he couldn't gather.

Ron's jealousy had started to surface again. During the tryouts, Harry had noticed him looking sulky and glaring at him from time to time. When Slughorn ignored him, Ron's jealousy flared.

It was really shocking to find out from Hermione that all the entries and exits from Hogwarts, even owls were being checked. He made a mental note to not get caught if he had to do something behind everyone's backs. Once again, Ron brushed away Harry's concerns regarding Malfoy. Harry was sure that Malfoy was up to something no good but how could he find out? He had to learn Legilimency soon.

XXXX

Harry was having a throbbing headache by the time Quidditch trials were over. He had observed that since the beginning of summer, there were a few physical changes in him due to him merging with his animagus form. This seemed to be the latest one. The headache was probably caused by changing eyesight. It was compounded by Hermione's constant harping and Ron's jealous bouts. He didn't know spells to check for his eye prescription and alter the glasses according to that. He did not want to tinker with the magic that dealt with eyes since eyes were very delicate.

He made his way to the hospital wing after telling Ron and Hermione the truth that he had headache. The doors of the hospital wing were closed. He knocked the door and called out "Madam Pomfrey?"

A few second later, the doors opened and he saw Madam Pomfrey beckoning him inside towards one of the beds. "Mr. Potter" she said exasperatedly "It has been only two weeks and you are already here. Your yearly visits are getting more frequent. Well now, what is the matter?"

Harry grinned lopsidedly and replied "Come now Madam Pomfrey, cant I spend a little time in the company of a beautiful lady without getting interrogated?"

Pomfrey raised her eyebrow and stated "Something is definitely wrong then. Your father and his friends were just as charming when they wanted something from me."

Harry put his hand on his heart and said dramatically "You wound me Madam. Doth not thy company please thee?"

Pomfrey finally cracked a smile "Use that charm elsewhere Mr. Potter and you can find yourself lots of company."

Harry put on a mock horrified expression and said "What is this? A staff of school advising me to keep girls company rather keep away from them?"

Pomfrey laughed "Don't be so dramatic. We all know what goes on in the castle. Now what were you here for?"

"Well, I am getting frequent headaches. I think it might be because my eyesight is changing" Harry replied.

"Sit down and remove your glasses then" she ordered.

Harry sat down and did as she asked. While she waved her wand at him, chanting spells, he asked curiously "You must be quite lonely here. How do you spend time by yourself?"

Pomfrey sighed and replied "True, it does get a little boring here. Wizards and witches don't get common sickness like flu, cold or fever that regularly. Their innate magic prevents it and even if they get ill, a single dose of a simple potion gets rid of it. It is only injuries that require longer healing. Then again, the students are in a hurry to join the school masses."

"Hey, it is not our fault. You prick and prod us with your wand and then gross us out by making us swallow disgusting potions" Harry retorted. She seemed to have completed the spells but was content to talk. He realized how lonely she really was. She had mended him every year and she know more about his body than he himself did. The least he could do for all the care she had given him was to keep her company. He decided at least visit her once a week.

Pomfrey grinned and replied "Well, if the potions tasted good, you would not have the motivation to stay away from injuries would you?"

"Yes you are right. So… what about my eyes?" he asked a little hesitantly. He did want to come off as wanting to get out of here.

Pomfrey replied in a strict business like voice "Your eyes are getting better. Since your glasses are not according to prescription, you are having headaches. I can change the prescription of your glasses." She paused a bit and said "You know, it is so strange. The same thing happened to your father. He too found his eyesight changing in his fifth year. Melissa, his mother was baffled at that and for all her expertise; she couldn't tell why that happened. It must be a Potter family trait."

Harry's eyes went a bit wide hearing her "Wait! Wait! My father had the same thing? My grandmother was an expert optician? Her name was Melissa?" He launched off the questions rapidly. He had known nothing about his grandparents on either side of the family and information sources were scarce. Also, fifth year was the time that the Marauders had mastered their animagus transformation. Was it the same reason his father had his eyesight changed?

Pomfrey laughed at him and said "Your grandmother was indeed Melissa Moon Potter. Did you not know her name before this?" she narrowed her eyes when he shook his head and then continued "Well, she was. She was not an optician; she was a healer, one of the best at St. Mungos. I completed my apprenticeship under her tutelage before I joined here. She was a very knowledgeable healer."

Harry was very grateful and a bit shocked to hear about his grandparents. He did not even know her name until now, let alone her job. He asked Pomfrey eagerly "Could you tell me more about my grandparents please?"

Pomfrey smiled pleasantly "Of course. Your grandparents almost adopted me as their own after my parents were killed. I will be glad to tell you more about them."

Harry smiled widely and replied "How about I come and talk to you every weekend? You can check up my eyes at the same time and tell me about them. You wont feel so bored then."

"Sure, it will be great Harry" she agreed.

It was the first time she called him by his name and he felt happy for that. He suddenly had a thought and told her "Just wait a moment and I will be back in a few minutes." He put on his glasses and raced out of the hospital.

As soon as he was out of sight, he Slid to an abandoned classroom a few corridors away from the Gryffindor common room entrance. He hoped no couple was using it then and was relieved to find so one. He quickly made his way to his dorm and opened the second compartment in his trunk. Thankfully, Ron and Hermione were out on prefect patrols and only Seamus was in the dorm sleeping.

Harry had tried to mix magic and muggle drinks and had found some great combinations. Some were more potent than firewhiskey and others were great for relaxation. He opted to prepare a relaxing drink for Madam Pomfrey and a hard drink for himself.

He conjured two glasses and mixed the drinks. For the relaxer, he used 70 percent Butterbeer and 30 percent muggle Malt Whiskey. It took out the sweetness of Butterbeer and added the relaxing effect of hard alcohol.

For himself, he used 60 percent muggle Vodka, 20 percent Firewhiskey, 20 percent water and a bit of lemon. He had looked up the spell to conjure lemon for this specific purpose.

He put an impervious charm on the glasses so that they did not spill. He held the two glasses and closed the trunk. He could hear Seamus snoring and hence Slid directly to a corner near the Hospital wing. He knew that no prefect patrol went through there.

He walked to the hospital wing and closed the door behind him with his leg. He called out to Madam Pomfrey. She called to him from inside her office "Come over here Harry."

He walked in to find her clean and efficient office. There was a long file cabinet probably containing medical records of students. There was a nice desk and comfortable chairs on either side of it. There were two large tapestries portraying a mountain view and a lake view. They were soothing on the eyes. There was a light brown rug on the floor which was soft.

He sat down opposite to her and gave her the Relaxer drink. He pulled out his wand and dispelled the impervious charms on both glasses.

Pomfrey asked curiously "What is this?"

Harry grinned and replied "Try it and tell me. I promise you that you will love it."

Harry waited for her to drink first and got the expected reaction. She tried her drink and sighed in pleasure. "Mmm… this is good. I could do with one of these everyday. What is this?"

Harry sipped his drink and grinned "It is a drink I mixed up. It has mostly butterbeer mixed with muggle whiskey. It is a great drink to simply relax." He felt extreme warmth slide down his throat and settle in his stomach. He did not feel the disgusting need to belch as was expected from firewhiskey. The belching was not a concern because of lemon. His drink had the intoxication offered by firewhiskey and was further enhanced by muggle Vodka.

"Muggle alcohol? How in the name of Merlin did you get a hold of that and how did you know to mix this?" she asked incredulously.

Harry smirked and replied cheekily "Ask me no questions and I will tell you no lies."

Harry agreed to give her a bottle of muggle whiskey and they talked a bit about his grandparents. He learnt that his grandfather was Harold Potter and he was the head of aurors during that time. Pomfrey told him more about their personal lives before they parted with the promise of meeting again next week.

XXXX

Harry had a very interesting conversation with Luna a few days after the Quidditch tryouts. He had searched for books that detailed about affinities and abilities carried in a family. He specifically wanted to learn about the Potter family. He was going spare having met with no success. He had to find a way to get the information without arousing suspicion. Since the mail was watched, he couldn't order a book like that from outside. He was sure his owl posts were more than thoroughly checked. Besides, Hedwig was still acting a bit strange. He usually saw her in the hall at least once during a week. Even if she didn't have mail, she would come with other owls and have bacon with him and take off. The delivery of books was the only time he saw her after school started and she was no where as affectionate as she was. He wondered if she was truly between a mating or if something else was the matter.

The chamber was also no help. The books in the chamber did not indicate such a strong importance to bloodlines at that time. It was mostly because muggleborns were very few in number at that time and almost all of witches and wizards were from magical families. There were so many families that were wiped out. The families were then preoccupied with hiding from muggles and protecting themselves from the more active Vampires and Goblins during that time.

So, he decided to ask Luna for help. Maybe, she could order any book in her name for him. One day, when they were spending time together in the Chamber, Harry asked Luna "Hey Luna, could you do me a favor?"

"Sure Harry, what do you need?" Luna asked immediately, eager to help him. He had been her friend and had helped her learn more about magic than all other professors. He had even helped her this year with practical magic when she asked him. He had yet to ask anything of her but she knew she would do anything for him. Harry had respect and would never ask anything shameful of her.

"Do you have any idea where I might get some information on affinities and abilities that run in a particular family, specifically the Potters?" he asked.

Luna smiled and Harry noticed that it was a really nice smile. Her blue eyes lit up with interest, "I could tell you about it Harry. I am a genealogy buff. I have read many books on the history of many families and know about most of them. I am sure I have pretty much all the information there is on the subject as I was really interested in the gifts that ran in families. If you want something more, I can get you some books."

Harry slumped on the chair and told her gratefully "Thanks Luna. You are a lifesaver. I have searched for days in the library and the Miscellaneous section is so large, it is almost impossible to find anything there. Can you tell what exactly are the affinities and abilities and what Potters had?"

Luna laughed and replied "Okay. Affinities and Abilities are some traits that are observed consistently in a family. Generally, there are one or two major affinities in every pureblood family and a few minor affinities. Ability is the same as Affinity; it is just what different people call it. Affinity is the capability to perform some kind of magic with ease. If you have the affinity for a specific subject, you have the ability to perform that branch of magic. It is just a round about way of telling things. I said this for purebloods only because they have the history to verify the affinity over many generations."

"Major affinities are the traits that are prominent in a family, something like passed from father to son kind of thing. Major affinities never leave the family, no matter who their mother is. Minor affinities on the other hand might be traits that were observed rarely in the family or the traits that were brought into the family by witches marrying into the family. Some families keep their affinities a secret while others declare them openly. Take me for example. Many expect me to be some kind of seer because of my eccentric behavior and out of focus eyes but that is not the case. There have been many brilliant people in my family on my mother's side. All have been exceptional workers in the fields of Charms and Enchantments but I have no Major affinity for those. I only have a minor affinity in charms and I have not studied enchantments yet. But, my father's family has affinity for handling magical creatures. Creatures usually calm down in my presence and let me near their nests and young ones without fear. That is why you hear about many unknown animals from me. Some of them really exist and many of them are just a creation of my mind. I make such comments to annoy people and it also keeps away any other kind of ridicule. Another fact is that I am an Empath. Empathy is the ability to feel the emotions of other living beings. This is a Major Affinity that my father's family has had for ages. Empathy also helps me deal with other creatures. I can sense your emotions quite clearly. You are feeling curious and a bit apprehensive. But don't be worried Harry, I would never abuse your trust and I cant manipulate the emotions, only feel them."

"When most people say simply affinity, they refer to Major affinities. Slytherin family was known to have affinity for Dark Arts and Parseltongue. Dumbledore family has affinity for the Art of Advanced Transfiguration and Mind Arts. Now, about Potters – Potter's are second only to Dumbledores in Transfiguration. But what Potter's are really known for are their wards. Their wards are so good that even Gringotts appreciate them. Mind you, goblins are best known for their warding and defensive magic and having them even acknowledge your families work means that they were really the best. There is no other family known to have affinity for warding. There are rumors that the wards on the Ministry and Hogwarts were done by Potters. Due to specialty in wards, Potters also have affinity in Runes and Shields. Almost all the wards in existence today were created by the Potter family. The same is the true for shields."

Harry soaked up the information. It was true he found Transfiguration easy but he never paid attention to it since he found all wand related magics very easy. He was especially proficient in offensive and defensive magic. He had found Runes easy but had not had the interest to develop his knowledge in that. He had not studied wards in detail but had read the basics of it to use simple ones during summers. But there were many questions regarding the Black family. The book about Battle Magic had raised even more questions.

"What can you tell me about the Blacks?" he asked her carefully. He had not yet revealed to her that he could do Battle Magic that was only possible by those of Black blood. And according to that blasted book, it was possible only in the primary branch of the family.

Luna frowned "Blacks are a mystery. There is never enough information about them. The only reliable book is _Battle Magic, the History_…" seeing Harry's face light up in recognition, she continued "Oh, you have read it then. What he says is true but that was more than 250 years ago. For the past 300 years, the Black family has been on decline. 300 years ago, the head of family Lord Maurius Black did something drastic. The Blacks had always been the power behind the scenes but they never interfered with wars or any other conflicts. But his son and grandson were enamored by a Dark Lord of that time. They had already pledged loyalty to him. Maurius Black did not like being under anyone's control. He somehow made innumerable Black assets and properties disappear off the face of the earth along with most of their riches. Many attempts were made to recover the knowledge and wealth over the last 300 years and all have failed."

"You see Harry, Blacks were businessmen. They were also the family that owned most of the land in wizarding world. Some say that they own the land Hogwarts was built on too. Maurius Black did not want the Black family to waste away under dark magic influence and he brought down the family's worth. He put some sort of safeguard and no one has any clue what that is. In the last 300 years, the Black family has declined under one faulty head after another. Their dealings lacked the backing of might that Black family carried. They lost control of many businesses and prestige by foolishly backing unwise ventures and dark lords. The Black family went from real Battle Magic masters to corrupted dark arts users. Maurius Black did not leave his family entirely hopeless. He left some of the Battle Magic knowledge behind but hid a large part of it and an even larger part of wealth according to his grandson. That is the reason why all dark lords, even Voldemort wanted the Black family among his followers. Even the meager knowledge of Battle Magic and a true user like a Black was an incredible asset in war."

"As you have no doubt read, Blacks have a great affinity for Battle Magic. They have guarded that knowledge zealously. Even the meager knowledge left behind by Maurius Black is not accessible by anyone not having the Black blood. Any other affinity of the family is not known. But the true mystery as Septimus Smith writes is in the affinities. No Black is reported to have shown any minor affinity at all. In a way, it is a great way to preserve Major affinities since there are no Minor affinities that might someday, somehow overcome the Major affinities. Even the affinities of mothers in the Black family can no way influence the children. So, only the primary sons and daughters in the Black family have affinity for Battle Magic. I had a fascinating time researching the Blacks."

Harry was really confused now. He mused out loud "But how is that possible. I can not only read the Black family books that are charmed to be read only those of Black blood, I can also cast the true Battle Magic spells. I thought only the primary children of Blacks could do that. There is also Potter affinities. I definitely have an affinity for Runes and Shields. What little I have studied in Runes came to me real easily. Shields are also very easy. Transfiguration is a piece of cake but so is Charms. Does this mean I have both Black and Potter family affinities? Smith fellow wrote that Blacks had only Black family affinities..."

He was dragged out of his musings by an excited Luna, "You can use true Battle Magic? Wow! Battle Magic is rumored to be the deadliest of all offensive magics. But you say you have Potter affinities too. I never knew you studied Runes. How could it be? Those who have shown affinity for Battle Magic are Blacks. You can also read Black family books charmed to be only readable to those in Black family. I know that there are at least three marriages between a witch from the Black family and a Potter. And only the primary children can access and use them. We both know you are the best in school at offensive and defensive magic. So, technically you have affinity for all the known Potter and Black family traits. But… but… How?"

Harry laughed ruefully and said "I seem to have done the impossible again eh? Oh Well! You wont get any complaints from me for a few extra affinities."

XXXX

An incident after one of the Quidditch practices gave Harry a thrilling experience and a girl to satisfy his carnal desires.

Harry was usually the last to return to school after Quidditch practice. Being the captain, he had to store and secure the equipment. Then he had to endure that no one had tampered with anything.

Usually, most of the team preferred to have a very brief shower in the locker room and retire for the day. But Harry always took a long, cleansing shower to relax him and sooth his irritation and nerves. This day was the same. Warm flow of water eased the tension built up during the practice and the last few days of Hermione's sniping and Ron's bouts of jealousy. With friends like that, he wondered how he managed to stay sane.

He toweled himself dry and exited the showers with only a towel around his waist.

An appreciating whistle made Harry look to the nude form of Katie Bell leaning against Harry's locker. "I knew you were hot Harry, but walk into Hogwarts like this and you will make the dream of every girl come true." Indeed, he was quite a sight. His raven black hair was sticking out of place as usual and being freshly dried, looked even more messy than usual. His broad shoulders complimented his muscled arms. His lean body did not have an ounce of fat on him. A prominent six pack and a muscular chest shone with droplets of water. And of course, there were his gorgeous green eyes. It was package that no witch could resist.

Harry was of course startled by her presence. Not only was she in the boys' locker room, she was nude as well. The sight of her shapely body leaning sexily against the locker got his loins on fire. Katie was a slim witch. She did not have much to boast about in the way of her breasts but she more than made up for it with her amazing arse and long sexy legs. She was a bit muscular from having played chaser for so long. She had shoulder length brown hair that she liked as it kept the hair from falling to her eyes while playing. Her grey eyes were darkened with lust and appreciation of the view.

Harry's cock twitched at the sight. He had not had any sex for the few weeks he had been in Hogwarts and he craved for it. The summer trysts with Fleur and Ginny made him realize the wonderful euphoria he was missing out on. But between Dumbledore's supposed lessons, his own continuous study of Battle magic of the Blacks and other such matters, he had never had time to pursue any witch solely for the purpose of having sex. He was in no mood to settle down so soon. All he wanted was sex for the reason of having sex and relieving himself. He liked to have sex and he knew how to pleasure witches. It would be mutually beneficial and he was not about to get attached to some random witch he did not know for the sole reason of sex. And now, the perfect opportunity presented itself to him. Katie.

Katie was a friend and he had known her better than most of Hogwarts due to Quidditch. Being his friends, she was unlikely to brag around the school if they had sex. As far as he knew, she was single. She was the perfect choice to have sex with and which would not demand anything more.

Seemingly unaffected by her naked presence, he stalked over to where she was with a slow gait "Have I made your dreams come true Katie? Your scandalously unabashed attire has certainly made mine come true."

Katie replied huskily "Not yet but you soon will Harry. I am hoping to corrupt you and lead you in the path of sinful desire. I wish to teach you the wonders of gratifying sex." Her direct admission and husky voice turned Harry on.

Harry had finally made it to her. He loomed over her and smirked at her "I am already an accomplished student Katie. If you want an experience that you will never forget, all you have to do is ask me."

Katie was momentarily surprised and then she continued throatily "Why am I even surprised? I shouldn't have expected you to not know. Being handsome, famous and an all round good guy, you should have had plenty of company. Then show me what you can do Harry. I am thoroughly in need of a good, hard shag."

Harry pressed his body against hers, pressing her back against the lockers "Welcome to the world of pleasure Katie" he told her and kissed her hard. Her hard nipples dug into his naked chest as she pulled herself even closer to him by putting her arms around his neck.

She kissed back furiously and showed him she was well experienced. Their intense kiss continued as they explored each other's firm bodies. Katie pushed Harry away a bit and tugged the towel around his waist loose, leaving him nude.

She immediately hopped and fastened her legs around his waist completely hanging on to him. Harry sought the support of the locker to hold her in place as she kissed him again. After a few minutes of frantic and passionate kissing and rubbing, she told him seductively "You can show me all that you know in the coming days but right now I need you to fuck me long and hard. I am already wet from fingering myself and I need a hard shag now."

Katie pushed his hips back a bit and held his dick in her hand. Harry groaned into her neck as she positioned him at her center. He slowly sunk into her dripping snatch. She was hot and she was wet.

"Fuck me Harry… Fuck me… Oh you are so big… so big Harry…" Katie said throatily.

Harry began to move within her with long strokes. It took him a few thrusts to completely enter her. Her pussy was tight and she needed time to get used to his long and thick cock. He almost pulled out of her before ramming his dick into her cunt. Harry nibbled at her neck and held her thighs as she forced herself to him again and again by using her legs to pull herself into him.

Katie screamed "Harder… Harry… Fuck me harder…"

Harry complied and rammed his dick into her. She screamed in ecstasy. The pleasure was driving her wild. It was hard, primal rutting. Harry battered her cervix again and again. Harry did not know when Katie started to cum. She was wet and flowing almost all the time. She had completely let go as Harry held her against the lockers. Their bodies met noisily as Harry plundered her depths pounding into her again and again.

Katie's convulsions had lessened. Then she did something that drove him crazy. She flexed her cunt muscles and gripped him. The heady sensation of being gripped by her internal muscles as she clenched around him was too much for him and he spewed his sperm in her pussy. He continued to thrust slowly as she milked him completely with her cunt. It was something that Fleur had done for him a few times and Katie had the same excellent control as her.

Both were sweaty from their frantic lovemaking. They were breathing heavily and leaning against the lockers to not fall down from the pleasure.

"That was wild Katie. Where did you learn to do that?" Harry asked breathlessly.

"Experience Harry. I have had quite a few after George popped my cherry" she replied just as breathlessly.

Harry said in a contrite voice "Katie… This has to be only physical. I mean… I am not ready to get emotionally attached to anyone right now."

Katie silenced him with a kiss and told him "I know that silly. I just want sex. Sex is a great stress buster and with N.E.W.Ts and other pressures, I need sex badly. I am not looking for any attachment either. If you want to have sex, you know where to find me. I have to say, you were one of the best I have had and definitely the biggest."

Good. I really needed a shag buddy" Harry replied, grinning satisfactorily.

Katie laughed and said "If I knew you were this good and sexually active, I would have jumped you a lot sooner Harry maybe even in your fourth year."

Harry laughed and said "I would have run for my life if you did it at the beginning of the year. But all that is the past. We will have a great time from now on Katie."

"That we will Harry, that we will" she affirmed.

Harry grinned lecherously at her and asked "Ready for another round?"

"You bet loverboy" Katie replied as they lost track of time again.


	8. Halloween Talks

**Chapter 8: Halloween Talks**

**Warning: Contains extremely vulgar language**

The next few days saw Harry convince Luna to tell him who all stole her things. At first she resisted saying that they could do all that they wanted and be immature children but Harry's persistent inquiries gave fruit. Harry found the need to enjoy school and he had one perfect outlet – pranking. He decided to follow in his father's and godfather's footsteps. He was already on his way to become an animagus and this was the last step. He decided to get them all in one major prank and hence started to prepare for it. He had a few general ideas that he refused to share them with Luna. He told her to simply enjoy the effects later. It would take him a few weeks but it would be memorable.

Harry's discovery of spells in the Half Blood Prince's book was met with varied reactions. Hermione was as always disapproving. Ron thought it was brilliant as long as Harry didn't use it on him. Harry secretly tested them out on people with whom he had a score to settle with. Filch and Crabbe got the small stuff. He was searching for something really humiliating for Malfoy and McLaggen. The Half Blood Prince was good but it was all kiddy stuff even though it was useful enough for school.

In the meantime, he had continued to talk to Zabini and Daphne on weekends when he found them alone on the Marauders Map. He was able to meet them only on two more occasions. On both these meetings, he would flirt with Daphne who would give him no chance. Zabini was usually quiet and watched the two of them. They hardly talked anything of importance. Daphne usually got very infuriated with him within five minutes and he was forced to leave. He did not have another question and answer session. He was sure there would be one soon. He was eagerly waiting forward to one.

With each day sorely testing his patience, Harry was glad to have the company of Katie a few days of the week. It helped both of them to lose themselves in mind numbing sex. It helped relieve both of them of stress and energize them to face the next day.

The accidental testing of _Levicorpus_ on Ron was hilarious. Harry almost gave away his ability as he cast both nonverbal spells on the first try without trouble. Thankfully no one caught it. These days, even McGonagall and Flitwick expected nonverbal spells apart from Snape. So, it was not completely unbelievable that he could manage nonverbal spells. All in all, it was a great start for the first Hogsmeade weekend in the second week of October.

Dumbledore's absence for days together had given him a sense of temporary freedom that he hoped to really make come true the next summer. Harry thought that somehow, Dumbledore's disappearances and the memories that he was being shown were connected. The lessons as he thought might be a sham to keep Harry from complaining.

Harry thought it was hilarious when Hermione harped about the spells from the Prince's book not being ministry approved. She was almost always against him this year and it was getting too much. One of these days he would snap and who knows what he might say or do. Ginny's arrival with Dumbledore's missive was a lifesaver. She was like a breath of fresh air and even such a short time with her spruced him up.

Harry was reminded why he was so glad to be the Quidditch captain. Whenever Slughorn invited him, he would organize a practice. Hermione was the only one who got stuck. He thought of going to one of them and seeing what other people were there but Hermione was there to give him a detailed report when she was bored. So it was not that big a loss.

Seeing the barman from the Hog's Head talking to Mundungus Fletcher was very suspicious. Harry, Ron and Hermione were curious and went ahead to ask him. Noticing the Black family crest on the items Dung was carrying made Harry see red.

Grim's emotions combined with his own. With a strength that was recently acquired, Harry hauled Dung by his throat with one hand. Harry dug his wand up his throat and asked him about it. The more Dung denied it, the angrier Harry became. When Harry snarled at him, he saw Dung and Ron flinch and Hermione cower. He supposed he looked menacing then. He did not want betrayal such as this go unpunished. The Grim demanded retribution and it was vicious about it. Harry almost cursed Hermione when she dared to forbid him thereby allowing the thieving rat to escape.

It took quite some time in the Three Broomsticks for Harry to cool down. Hermione's ill advised mollifying attempts didn't help in the least. The appearance of Tonks previously was baffling since she didn't do anything to stop Dung nor did she say anything worthwhile. She was like carrying through the motions. Harry almost asked for a bottle of Firewhiskey from Rosmerta. But as mad as he was, he couldn't let Hermione know how proficient he was at downing drinks. Ron already knew from the time they drank in the dorm and would probably welcome it. He did have enough liquor in his trunk and he could get drunk the same night in the chamber. Rosie would have to wait.

Katie's screams completely woke him up from his bout of anger. It was soon apparent that he had to so something. Katie's friend Leanne, Ron and Hermione were almost panicking and they were in shock already. He remembered Luna telling him how they both were useless in a battle and he could see it now. He shouted at them to stay put and ran for help. Whatever had happened to Katie, it was dangerous and he doubted any of them would know to treat them. She needed a healer and soon.

Harry was very thankful for his physical exercises. It would have been impossible to run through the heavy wind and sleet without collapsing otherwise. It was probably best that it was Hagrid who he met. He carried Katie to the school quickly without tiring, his giant genes helping immensely.

Ron was truly stupid to try and pick up the opal necklace that was most assuredly cursed. Harry knew it was somehow connected to Malfoy. It seemed like Katie was under the _Imperius_ curse. There were too many variables to exactly pin point who was the culprit but somehow Malfoy had something to do with it, Harry was sure of it. He tried to convince Ron and Hermione but they wouldn't listen to him. He didn't have any proof exactly but his hunches regarding matters such as these were never wrong.

Harry knew before even trying to tell McGonagall his suspicions that nothing would come off it. McGonagall was a stiff rule abiding old crone that people like Hermione idolized. She shot him down as expected but it was surprising to know Malfoy was not in Hogsmeade. But since Katie was already under _Imperious_ curse, she could have been ordered to pick the cursed opal necklace up somewhere. Hermione's all knowing deduction had so many blaring flaws that he almost pulled his wand on her. Malfoy could have picked up the necklace another day at Knockturn Alley and given it to someone else to mail it to a place on a specific date when he sent a certain message by owl. It was that simple to pull it off.

From then on, Ron and Hermione adopted a "deaf and dumb" routine whenever he mentioned anything about Malfoy. Harry really didn't want to push it like that but in a way, it amused him. It irritated Ron and Hermione and for all the times they had irritated him, it was a very small payback. Still, those suspicions were true. The whole school knew of the incident soon enough. Katie was transferred to St. Mungos for treatment. From his weekly talks with Madam Pomfrey, he had made out that she was not that respected even though she was the most qualified healer available. So it was no surprise that Katie was shifted. He resolved to find out the reason why the most proficient healer was not that respected later.

Katie was his friend dammit! They had a great time together. Katie was simply not some worthless shag, she meant something. She was not his love or anything but she was a great friend with whom he had a great time. Harry vowed revenge on the person responsible for this.

The meeting with Dumbledore went as he expected. Dumbledore brushed off any enquiries about Katie, Dung's actions and his suspicions about Malfoy. Harry had a healthy respect for heirlooms. Learning that the Slytherin's locket was obtained ungainly by Burke burned a fire in him. Slytherin might be a wanker but ancient artifacts had to be appreciated and not vilified like that.

The memory showed that Dumbledore could be sneaky when he wanted to be. An auburn haired, suit wearing Dumbledore was laughable. Mrs. Cole's impression of young Tom Riddle was spot on. It was impressive how adept Riddle was at manipulating his magic in small amounts at a young age of 11. Harry had long deduced that Riddle was a survivor and independent. He trusted no one and depended on no one. He got what he wanted and if he didn't get, he forcibly took it from others. He followed it even until now as Voldemort.

Harry made out one thing that Dumbledore had obviously missed. Riddle could control any animal at such a young age. Riddle was also fervently confirmed that he was special and would go to any lengths to prove that. Well, he had proved it as Lord Voldemort. He was special alright, a special nutcase.

Riddle was a cold calculating bastard even at 11. He collected trophies from his victories and desperately wished to impress Dumbledore when he got caught with them. He admitted to being a Parselmouth. There was nothing much to be discussed about this memory and Harry was dismissed soon. It was good to know something about Voldemort but Harry still failed to see what was so important to know about his past.

The next morning, during Herbology class, he told Ron and Hermione about the supposed lesson. The almost admission of Hermione's feelings for Ron while talking about Slug Club nearly had Harry gagging. They were so obvious yet so obstinate. Why didn't one of them simply admit it? They liked each other and it was clear to most of the school.

Soon, Harry has to ask Dean to be the third Chaser for the team. No one had played that well but Dean was the least hopeless of the lot. The next practice showed how utterly unstable Ron was. Last year, he was confident enough to stop goals from opposing team but in the practice, he failed miserably. Not only did he fail to stop the goals, he got angry pretty quickly. He injured Demelza and Ginny was about to start on him when he stopped her. She had the gall to call him on his captaincy and he had to hand it to her. She definitely had spirit and he knew she was right. But already there was already one replacement in the team to bring up to speed and another would be a disaster.

Harry almost went into rage when he saw Ginny and Dean snogging in the secret corridor after the practice. The Grim inside him was furious at Dean for touching something that was his. Ginny was his. Harry found that Dean was really a wimp. He left Ginny alone just because she said so, not bothering to provide her support. She didn't deserve him. She didn't deserve anyone but Harry. The Grim was adamantly persistent at claiming Ginny once again. Harry reluctantly tried to diffuse the sibling row between Ginny and Ron. Heated words were being said and he didn't want to deal with the headache that would surely come to pass. Ron actually tried to hex Ginny, that idiot. Harry was really alarmed when he saw that Ginny was close to tears. He wanted to hold her close and comfort her, not let her continue to argue. Thought he doubted he could have stopped her. Dean was really a prick for leaving her out here alone.

That night really brought out all his feelings for Ginny. He was extremely possessive of her. Till now he had not seen Dean and Ginny together in public and when he did, he wanted to rip Dean limb from limb for kissing her. Harry wanted to have Ginny as his again and keep her away from Dean and anyone who wished to even touch her. He knew it was not likely to happen anytime in this millennium. Ginny was not someone to be coddled. She would not hide away from the world even if Harry ordered her to. She would probably hex him for even suggesting that.

Ron's attitude did not improve over the next few days. His jealousy was at its peak. Harry could swear he heard Ron grumble about not being chosen as the Quidditch captain. Ron was also cold and sneering like a Malfoy at Hermione. Harry knew that it was because Ron understood that Hermione had snogged Krum in their fourth year. What was the big deal about snogging anyway? Ginny goaded Ron about it and Ron was really pathetic if he had not really snogged anyone at all.

XXXX

Halloween – what a dreadful day.

To the wizarding world, it was a day to rejoice and be festive. The first reason was that it was a magical holiday and the other was that it was the day that Harry Potter had first vanquished the dark lord Voldemort.

That was also the reason why Harry himself hated this day. It reminded him of the parents he had lost and the miserable life he had led until now because of it. All reason and calmness left Harry's mind on this day. Every Gryffindor knew to refrain from congratulating Harry or including him in the day's festivities. It was well known in the Gryffindor tower that Harry Potter was simply unapproachable on the day of Halloween. Even his best friends, Ron and Hermione, left him alone on this day.

Harry usually sulked and brooded and raged on this day. But last year, he had found alcohol. It helped him immensely. His emotions would get a free reign and he could rage at the idiotic wizarding world without any inhibitions. This year too, he had planned to get sloshed. It took a lot of liquor to get him sloshed but he had stored up enough in his trunk to get his drunk.

Harry trudged through the classes and scowled at everyone who seemed to look at him in pity. He hated pity. He was snappy in his replies in class and rude to anyone who pointed fingers at him. It was one day he was allowed to behave as he wanted.

Harry didn't attend dinner. He couldn't stand to see the traditional Halloween feast and the happy faces mocking him with something he didn't have, a family. With the loss of Sirius last year, his grief had compounded.

Harry, for some reason, did not feel like going to the chamber that night. He went to the other isolated place he knew, the abandoned room where he met with Daphne and Zabini. He hoped they wouldn't come here but he wouldn't care even if they did. He had brought most of his remaining liquor to the room and conjured a glass to start his long voyage to get utterly drunk.

Brooding over his thoughts and drinking, Harry never noticed the hours slip away. His thoughts were all over the place and his emotions went haywire. The fragile equilibrium he maintained to keep the Grim's emotions from influencing him too much was torn away. His emotions were the Grim's and the Grim's emotions were his. The Grim was howling in grief and rage and Harry almost did the same loudly. He was close to getting completely inebriated. It would take another quarter bottle or two to get him completely sloshed.

This was how Daphne and Zabini found him. Harry had laid out the bottles he had finished in front of him and they were amazed at his capacity. A bottle of firewhiskey was almost empty. One bottle of muggle whiskey was empty and another was half full. Two bottles of muggle Vodka also had only a few swigs left. A bottle of muggle Rum was also empty. They also saw a few more bottles which had yet to be opened on the table. They knew that magic helped wizards remain more sober but this was ridiculous.

Harry was nursing his drink, his face etched in a dark scowl. He didn't even notice that he had company until they both sat down in the sofa in front of him. Any other time, he would have rejoiced that he had more time to tease and flirt with Daphne; but not on this day.

"What the fuck are you looking at?" he snapped at them.

Daphne and Zabini were taken aback. They had never seen this side of Harry Potter. But they understood to a point. Blaise especially thought he could sympathize with his loss. Not knowing what to expect from a drunk Harry Potter, he tried to sooth him. He spoke carefully and neutrally "Potter, you may not have noticed but it was us who discovered this room. I understand what you are…" He was cut off by a very angry Harry Potter.

Harry narrowed his eyes dangerously and barked harshly "Don't you dare fucking patronize me, you son of a bitch." Any other day, he would never use such language or call Blaise that. It was a very, very low blow considering the reputation his mother had but Harry was beyond caring.

Zabini recoiled as if struck and Daphne sucked in her breath sharply. Slowly Zabini's face contorted in anger and he hissed "Potter, do not try the limits of my patience. I am willing to forgive you this time seeing you are not in your right mind. Considering the amount of liquor you have had, it's a wonder you are still alive, let alone sober."

"I am sober alright, sober enough to skin you alive, motherfucker" Harry retorted darkly.

Daphne cut in before the situation could escalate further "Come to your senses Potter. You are not the only one who has lost his family" A soon as she said that, she knew it was the wrong thing to say.

Harry glowered at her powerfully and spat "What the fuck do you know about losing family? What the hell do you know about being alone all your life? What do you know about shouldering the burden of the blasted sheep who pin their misgivings upon you? What do you know about being targeted by all the idiots out there for every single thing you do wrong? What do you know about being ridiculed by bleeding idiots for everything that you do? What the fuck do know about not having anyone to return to? What the fuck do you know controlling bastards and murdering psychopaths after you all your bloody life? Tell mw Daphne _dearest_" he said sarcastically "What the fuck could you possibly know?"

Daphne was so angry. She didn't deserve to be treated like this and that too by Potter. Granted he might not have been what she had expected but still, Potter was supposed to be a good guy. The whole school knew he had a fitful temper but she never expected that he would ever take it out on her. He flirted with her and she found it amusing and confusing because in some tiny part of her, she liked it. But now, he was lashing out at her for trying to calm him down.

Daphne leaned forward and slapped Harry hard across the face. She was surprised at her own actions as she had never lost control like that before.

Harry was stunned for a moment and he held his hand to left cheek where she slapped him. It stung. He stared at her for a few seconds blankly before collapsing in laughter. She had the gall to slap him. Holy Shit! She was good, real good. His drunken state reinforced his hysterical laughter.

Both Daphne and Zabini were flummoxed at his reaction. Whatever they had been expecting, this was definitely not it.

Harry recovered from his bout of laughter and told them "You, Daphne are priceless. That was exactly what I needed to snap me out of it. Tell you what, lets have another one of those Question and Answer sessions. I know you want to have one ever since I answered you other quiz so expertly. Frankly this is your chance to ask me anything you want. This might be the only time I have less control to answer all your questions truthfully. This is your chance to get answers to questions that you think I would never answer. Damn these drinks, couldn't even get me totally sloshed…" he muttered the last part but was heard by them both.

Both of them were further surprised to hear him talk coherently. His control had wavered and he had less inhibitions but he was still mostly sober. With the amount of alcohol in him, he must have been passed out several bottles earlier. It was enough for almost the entire sixth year students of all houses to get drunk. They were definitely surprised to know that he was thinking properly with all that liquor in him.

But they were Slytherins. They were taught to take advantage of any situation and this was the perfect opportunity to have their questions answered. Harry Potter was more open to them than he had ever been before. They could get answers to questions that were plaguing both of them ever since their first meeting in the same room. There were some questions that only he could answer, as the only one of two people to have faced Voldemort and live. They couldn't possibly go ask Dumbledore their questions now could they?

Blaise started with the questions. He was still a bit waspish due to his earlier treatment "How does Voldemort look?"

"Whoa! Now that is a loaded question. I am glad that you don't freak out by that stupid anagram. Voldemort is really inhuman. He is tall, extremely pale with skeletal like hands. His features are more like a snake, with slit pupil like crimson eyes. He has no nose, only two slits like a snake. His tongue is forked. He is the most grotesque creature you will meet but his gaze is powerful filled with malevolence and hatred." Harry answered.

Daphne shivered when she tried to imagine what Harry described. She asked him "What did you mean by that anagram comment?"

Harry inexplicably burst into laughter again. He was a little tipsy and the situation really was hilarious "You mean to tell me even you don't know that Lord Voldemort is not his real name. Who could possibly name their children with such a name? No, he was born as Tom Marvolo Riddle, the son of Tom Riddle Sr. and Merope Gaunt. Contrary to what he preaches, he is no pureblood. His father was a muggle and his mother was indeed from the line of Slytherin. He was a brilliant student at Hogwarts and head boy. When he left school, he traveled the world searching for knowledge on dark magic. When he returned, he had rearranged the letters in his name to form 'I am Lord Voldemort'. That is how Voldemort was born."

Blaise cut in confused "But why hasn't Dumbledore revealed this to the public. He could take away the support base or new recruits."

Harry scowled at the mention of Dumbledore "Because he wants to control everything that's why. That annoying wrinkly bastard. He plays his little games with all of us considering himself the reincarnation of Merlin or something. He is a great wizard and powerful too but he is far too blind. I have played along with his little machinations as they have helped me but he went too far this time. It cost me the last of my family. Everyone has family to go back to and Sirius was mine. Dumbledore took him away from me. I just need a little more time to prepare and then I will show both Voldemort and Dumbledore why they should never have fucked with me."

This conversation was already illuminating to both of them. It was really shocking to hear. Daphne asked him desperate to change the subject lest he unleash his temper again "How powerful is Voldemort?"

Harry answered immediately "Powerful, very powerful. He is probably the strongest wizard in England. When he was reborn using my blood at the end of third task of the tri-wizard tournament, he was pretty weak from the ritual and I was able to overpower him in a battle of wills and magic. But at the end of last year, I saw him face Dumbledore in the Atrium of the ministry. Dumbledore has finesse that has been honed through the decades but Voldemort definitely has more power. Each spells they both traded carried so much magic that the air around them sizzled. Then I felt Voldemort's true power when he possessed me. It was an all encompassing feeling. I was feeling suffocated cocooned in his power. I was almost totally helpless. Even though I would like to say that I pushed him out, I cannot. He released me after seeing something in my mind that gave him a pause. All in all, I doubt even a battalion of aurors would be able to stop him."

Blaise and Daphne were really thankful for this opportunity to get answers. They couldn't even begin to imagine the scrapes Harry had been through. Being possessed by anyone was a painful experience and he was sitting here after being possessed by the most powerful dark lord in centuries. His experiences were priceless if they could get information from the events. Nobody knew these facts. "Why does Voldemort target you? Is this 'chosen one' business true?" Blaise asked shrewdly.

Harry may be sloshed but he knew not to reveal the prophecy to them yet. They did not yet have his complete trust. "It doesn't matter. I am the living proof of his failure. I continue to elude him year after year and he has to show the world that he does not fail. It is allowed for him to draw against Dumbledore as he would seem to be a worthy enemy, but having a teenager thwart him so many times would not be acceptable. That is why he targets me or Dumbledore all the time."

Daphne commented thoughtfully "You know Potter, you are not a dumb Gryffindor like we thought. You are obviously a little intelligent and you drink. You swear and that temper of yours is fast becoming legendry. Are you really a saint like everyone portrays you to be?"

Harry grinned, regaining some of his lost humor "I am no saint. I am a sinner. I lie, I cheat, I manipulate and I enjoy the life's pleasures like women and wine… well not exactly wine, I hate wine, but you get the idea. Sinner's always have fun. Who cares about the judgment of soul or some crap like that? If you cannot enjoy while you are alive, what is the point of dying? I plan to enjoy my life as long as I can. There is nothing to be gained by being a weeping idiot like some expect me to be, a tragic hero… utter bullshit."

"Why Potter, you almost seemed like a Slytherin there." Blaise pointed out.

Harry laughed "I know. The most cunning thing you can do is to hide in plain sight. The sorting had wanted to put me in Slytherin. I told the sorting hat that I want to be a Slytherin by living as a Gryffindor. Who could possibly expect Slytherin like qualities in a Gryffindor? I can get away with so many things. If I had indeed been in Slytherin, the only good thing would have been that I would have been Daphne's boyfriend long ago. Isn't that right Daphne dear?" he finished, smirking wickedly.

"In your dreams Potter. Even now, after I know what you are capable of, I would not give you the time of day" Daphne replied icily.

Harry leaned forward and looked intently into her eyes, being completely serious. He did not appreciate someone putting him down even one as beautiful and interesting as Daphne "You have no idea what I am capable of" he said quietly, yet dangerously. He continued just as ominously "I will show everyone why Voldemort should never have messed with me. And when I kill that half blood bastard, I will seek retribution against the almighty Dumbledore. No one and I mean no one will stand in my way."

The magical energy in the room skyrocketed as he spoke. His determination and vehemence was palable and his eyes spoke of his quiet fury. It was a little suffocating for Daphne and Blaise as they had never been in the presence of a pissed off powerful wizard. The air was thick with excess magic that was bleeding out of him. It was like sitting in front of a blast furnace with hot air encompassing everything, leaving nowhere to go. Their skin tingled feeling the almost tangible magic in the air. They shuddered when they saw the fire in his eyes and they were glad that it was not directed at them. They may be Slytherins but they knew when to back down.

"Why did you choose Gryffindor Potter?" Blaise asked, desperately trying to change the line of conversation.

Harry replied "I suppose it can be half attributed to Dumbledore's manipulations and half to my survival tendencies. Hagrid was the first magical person I met and he told me that there was not one Slytherin that didn't turn dark and that Dumbledore was a great wizard. He also told me that my parents' murderer was in Slytherin too. Then Ron, the first friend I made, tried to reinforce that all Slytherins are dark and that they are slimy snakes. His family was pure Gryffindor and hated Slytherins. Then, the ferret was the one who convinced me that even if I have Slytherin like qualities, I should never be in that house. He insulted Ron, my first friend and was a snob. He had the classic makings of a bully and I had had enough experiences with bullies in my childhood to really consider any friendship with him."

Harry suddenly laughed and continued "If you think about it, Malfoy is a Slytherin only by the process of elimination, not because he is cunning or ambitious. He is not loyal enough for Hufflepuff, he is definitely not smart enough for Ravenclaw and he is too much of a coward to be a Gryffindor. He is a petty wizard with no real power. He showcases his plans to the world and proclaims his beliefs in public. I suppose he is a bit cunning in trying to get me in trouble by trying to provoke me in the presence of Snape enabling him to punish me. That is the only reason he is in Slytherin. He is a waste of space at Hogwarts if you ask me."

Daphne and Blaise laughed for the first time in his presence. Daphne's laughter was musical. Her soft laugh made him want to hear it again and again. Harry was not that bothered to answer their questions. They didn't seem to be the type who would join Voldemort. He knew that their families had been neutral in the last war. They might try to use this information to their benefit and if this kept them out of Voldemort's clutches, he would be satisfied. Well, not exactly satisfied since he wanted more than that with Daphne.

Daphne surprised herself by laughing. She couldn't control the hilarity that bubbled in her stomach. 'Harry is right' she thought. 'Wait! When did I call him Harry?' She abruptly cut any thoughts of that nature and asked him instead "Why don't you hate all Slytherins then? You seem to hate purebloods and you are a seen as a savior of all. What is your opinion on Blood status?"

Harry replied "If you are a Slytherin, you are Slytherin – what does being a pureblood matter? You are a student of this godforsaken school like any other houses. It is mainly due to this house system that dark lords and prejudice occur all the time. All the pompous and bigoted purebloods congregate in Slytherin. They meet like minded people and their thoughts of superiority are further reinforced. The other three houses suspect them and thus are prejudiced to believe the worst of them. The Slytherins in turn retaliate against the other houses by the only way they know – flaunt their riches, criticize others, bully others, hate muggleborns and muggles. Snape, being the primary bully encourages such behavior. He blatantly humiliates other houses, going as far as to make up new rules to give detentions and dock house points. This is one fucked up system."

"Blood has nothing to do with power", Harry continued "Voldemort is a half blood and he the most powerful wizard in England currently. My mother was a muggleborn and she defied Voldemort three times along with my pureblood father. I am a half blood and I have faced him so many times that I have lost count. Hermione is a muggleborn and she is smart, maybe not the smartest or the most intelligent but she is definitely better than the twit Malfoy. If you look at the other end of the spectrum, Crabbe and Goyle are pureblood and they are so dumb that I doubt they can walk and talk at the same time."

Daphne chuckled and agreed with him. Blaise considered what all he had heard today and he had to agree with Potter. There was one very important question he had to ask "What do you think of the ministry and the public Potter?"

Harry scowled and said "Ministry is filled with bigoted bastards who want to further their own power. The ministry is full of corruption. You can buy anything if you have enough gold, even your freedom for murder. The place is crawling with incompetent buffoons like Fudge. I know for a fact that most cant even cast a decent shield charm. The rich purebloods like Malfoy and Dumbledore control everything behind the scenes. The ministry wants to bury its head in the sand and hope everything will go away. Fudge did it and allowed Voldemort to consolidate his power freely for over a year. I don't know much about this new Scrimgeour guy but it seems that the ministry has not done anything to counter the death eaters. And the public dances to the ministry's harp. They are all sheep, willing to believe what they are told. No one really thinks on their own. Everyone is easily influenced by either the likes of Dumbledore or the ministry mouthpiece like the Daily Prophet. Consider this if you will, how many death eaters are there? If the public grouped together, they could overwhelm the death eaters by sheer numbers. Even Dumbledore and Voldemort couldn't win if even the quarter of population stands up against them. But no! They want to hide in their homes and want to pin everything on a 16 year old teenager. Bloody fucking spineless idiots."

Blaise and Daphne had not considered the last part at all. What he said was true. The general population far outnumbered both Dumbledore's lackeys and the Death eaters. There is only so much magic a wizard can do if they are tired. It seemed to them that Harry was far more practical and realistic than them.

"Don't even get me started on the ministry's laws and policies. They discriminate against every other magical being. They have laws to restrict everything. They have decreed werewolves, vampires and so many as creatures, dark creatures. They are human in a sense. Would you like being called a creature? It is no wonder goblins revolt every now and then. They are under suffocating supervision and control. I would not be surprised if they all want to join Voldemort even if he will use them and not give any thought about them. Werewolves only go feral once a month and even that can be curbed by the Wolfsbane potion. There are hardly any vampires left in England and they do not necessarily kill after they drink blood. One book even said that the victim feels intense pleasure if a vampire drinks blood from them. Similarly, Centaurs are ridiculed as mules and every other magical creature is always considered beneath wizards. The fountain at the Atrium of the ministry loudly showcases this point. Sometimes I think it would be better if Voldemort won but then there wouldn't be enough wizards left in England. He is a parasite who will kill everything in his sight."

Now, they were really surprised. The Golden Boy advocating some of the ideals of the dark lord. But they were glad to find that he despised Voldemort and would never join him. They shuddered when they thought of the destruction that was sure to happen if two powerful wizards like Potter and Voldemort joined forces.

Harry grasped the muggle whiskey bottle which was still half full and chugged down the contents as if it were butterbeer. Feeling even more light headed, he said "Now I want to ask you both a question. Why do you two talk to me, ask me these questions and be civil with me?"

No one but Blaise noticed something odd. When Harry drank, the shadows near his legs seemed to wrap around his feet. The shadows then righted themselves when he began to talk. Blaise decided to observe a little more and refrained from commenting on it.

Daphne looked at askance to Blaise who nodded slightly. Daphne sighed and answered "We are neutrals Potter. We do not want to be murderers under a lunatic's power nor do we wish to be targeted by opposing him. We cannot depend on having a lousy protection from Dumbledore if we were forced to choose a side. We needed more information and you are our best source. We want to survive the war and this time around, Voldemort is unlikely to let the neutrals be. If being civil to you is the way to get information, we can do it. Besides we never really had anything against you except your Gryffindor stupidity which you seem to have grown out of."

Harry grinned "Thank you for the compliment."

Unable to contain herself, Daphne asked one question that was bothering her "Why do your pursue our company? You have nothing to gain from these meetings and we are getting what we need."

Harry smirked and said "It is all due to you Daphne. You are too interesting to ignore. You are probably the most beautiful girl at Hogwarts and yet you do not date. You are even known as the Ice Queen for fuck's sake. You are in Slytherin and yet you have no apathy for others. While you do not antagonize others, you do not care for them either. You are intelligent and yet do not give any indication of the same. You are not that concerned about what others think of you and yet you hide your beauty. How can one person be so full of paradoxes? You are unlike any other girl I have met. I want to unravel you and I really, really want a date with you." He then continued seriously "Grant me one date and I promise you that you will have a wonderful time with me."

Daphne was surprised at how accurate he was even if it was about a small number of things. He wanted to date her, she thought incredulously. It was the most ridiculous ting she had heard. The Slytherin Ice Queen and the Gryffindor Golden Boy. Both with given titles that did not define what they truly were. What was it about that idea that she found interesting? She thought over the facts she knew about him:

He was not stupid.

He was a true Slytherin.

He was a magical powerhouse.

He was good looking, not just good, downright sexy.

He had gorgeous green eyes and a very fit, defined body.

He was disillusioned with Dumbledore.

He was sharp and semi-intelligent.

He had faced Voldemort many times and lived.

He was on the top of Voldemort's list.

He was the subject of Dumbledore's manipulations.

He had an incredible temper and a very foul mouth.

He had a sense of humor.

He had lost all his family.

He had no faith in the ministry.

He was not averse about magical creatures.

He had political clout even if he didn't know about it.

He was the best in school at Defense Against the Dark Arts.

He was average in all other subjects… unless… he was hiding his potential like a Slytherin.

There were many things that he still had hidden from everyone.

There were so many pros and cons about him. He was pulled in two different ways all the time and he had preserved. She begrudgingly admitted that he was a good catch. The Potters were generally looked up to in the eyes of the public. They carried respect even from Voldemort and his death eaters. He was also the heir of Black fortune and combined together, he could be one of the wealthiest and politically powerful people in all of England. Added to his fame, he could almost have anything he wished if he had the mind to do it.

So, to accept his offer for a date or not? After a moments thought, she decided. Not yet. He still had more tests to go through. She could look forward to a few more meetings before deciding. He could be crafty when he wanted to be and terrifying if angered. His emotions were a bit off balance but he could improve on it. But she did admit that she found the idea of dating him appealing if he passed all of Blaise's and her tests. She found him attractive and witty but she would not admit it to his face.

Daphne smirked back at him "You still have a long way to go before you can even think about that Potter."

Harry pouted and whined childishly "But Daphnneee… I don't want to overtax my feeble brain and destroy your impression of a dumb little Gryffindor." He knew it was really the other way round. He loved the little tests that these two came up with. Until now they were not challenging but he knew, sooner or later, they would make it more interesting. He wanted to pit his wits against theirs and emerge the victor.

"Tough luck Potter. I cannot have any stupid skirt chaser after me like a dog in heat. Besides what made you think I would even agree to go on a date with you? These small tests are for our amusement only" she replied testily.

Harry yawned sleepily and said "What ever… night Daphne… dream about me… see you…" before promptly falling asleep right where he was sitting.

Daphne and Blaise couldn't believe that he just nodded off like that. One minute he was talking and the next he just fell asleep. He was weird. They just left him alone and walked away both having to think a lot about what they had discovered.

XXXX

The next Saturday was the Quidditch match against Slytherin. Harry did not want to lose but with a sulking, pathetic keeper and a fairly new set of beaters and chasers, it would be up to him to end the game soon.

Ron's situation had worsened to the point where Ron wanted to quit. Nothing that Harry did or said seemed to affect his dejected manner. Then he got a glorious idea. Ron was dumb and Hermione thought herself to be pretty smart. He could pretend to put Felix Felicis into his drink during breakfast and make Hermione catch him on it. He was not about to waste the precious vial on something as silly as a Quidditch match but Ron's problem was only confidence. He didn't really need luck, he just needed some assurance.

The plan went of without a hitch. For all her brilliance, Hermione was just as easy to fool as Ron. But when she started to really get snippy and tried to use guilt and threatened him, she went too far. He retaliated reminding her of her confounding McLaggen.

Harry was really skeptical when he heard Malfoy was sick. It was just too convenient. The whole school apart from a few really studious students would be at the match. It was the perfect time to snoop around the castle and do something away from anyone's eyes. But at least, it got him out of Malfoy's hair during the match. He would take what he could.

Ron was really dumb. It took him nearly until they were about to go on to the field to pick up that he might have put Felix into his drink. Harry thought it was fairly obvious but Ron's sulking and obnoxious attitude coupled with slow thinking took him this long. Harry was just glad that Ron had picked it up before the match started.

Zacharias Smith was the commentator. Harry heartily disliked him even though he was in the DA and the feeling was mutual. The match was really something. Everyone played well except for him. Ron was stopping everything and Ginny was scoring at an amazing rate. The beaters were blasting the Bludgers accurately when needed. Harry was too busy thinking about others and Malfoy to concentrate on finding the Snitch. He almost paid for it when Harper, the Slytherin seeker almost caught it. A moment of insight enabled Harry to catch the Snitch and win the game instead.

Truth be told, he was watching Ginny fly most of the time when he got his mind off Malfoy. She was glorious on a broom and she was unbeatable. Ginny's fake crash into the commentator's podium was brilliant. He hugged her without thinking but quickly released her. He needed to find out what was wrong with her relationship with Dean and make it right before claiming her again. He could wait until then.

Hermione was really turning into a prissy bitch. She accosted him immediately after the match, berating him for using Felix. When he told her that he didn't and showed the proof, Ron's got snarky and started in on her. Even though he was irritated with her, she was his best friend and seeing her hurt pained him. He tried to comfort her for Ron's idiotic behavior but she refused and stormed away.

The party was not that interesting to Harry. Romilda Vane, the girl who boldly asked his company on the train, was coming on to him heavily. She was pretty enough to look at but she was so shallow. She was sickly sweet and overly provocative. Being alone with Ginny was getting to be troublesome. The Grim would surface anytime she was near and touched him. She was pretty miffed at Ron's hypocrisy and she was right too. But he didn't like the idea of her being with Dean any more than Ron did. Ron was locked in every way with Lavender and didn't seem to let go of her anytime soon.

Lavender had been making moves on him before but it seemed as though his good performance at the Quidditch match had triggered something and they were sucking the mouths out of each other. Harry couldn't even call it kissing or snogging.

Spotting Hermione, he followed her. She was really brittle and looked ready to breakdown or snap. He had never seen her this fragile before. He did not really know how to comfort a girl due to relationship problems other than to offer sex and that was not appropriate with Hermione. Then it had to get worse. Ron trotted in with Lavender on his arm. What had he done to deserve such a fate? Seeing Hermione's vindictive side emerge was a shocking experience. But he had heard her sob before she left.

The next few days couldn't go fast enough in Harry's opinion. Hermione was almost completely cut off from them as she became more reclusive. He had to put with Lavender's presence all the time. She was always latching on to Ron and Ron needed his company. He rarely saw Hermione anymore.

Without Katie's company, Harry was getting antsy again. He had not yet found a witch to be subtle and willing to have a purely physical relationship with him. He could have plenty of girls but even one night would be enough to spread the news to entire Hogwarts. He didn't really oppose that fact but then he would have to deal with too many girls propositioning him all the time. It would be even more irritating. Still, if he did not get anyone to agree for a purely physical relationship, he would have to somehow let it leak that he was interested. He knew he could get many offers to sleep with him.

As for his nightly studies, he had finished all the books he had found in Grimmauld place on Battle magic. He debated using Kreacher to get the Grimmauld Library to him but he was loathed to show Kreacher the Chamber of Secrets. He could not trust that blasted elf. So he tried to master Legilimency. He was a proficient Occlumens who even held himself against Dumbledore and Voldemort. Legilimency would surely help him.

He read the old books and even snuck into the school library to pursue the new books. All said almost he same thing about Legilimency. One had to force his way into another's mind either by pure will and magic or by using the spell Legilimens. There onward, it was up to them to bypass any defenses. All witches and wizards had minimal natural resistance but with enough skill and practice a mildly proficient Legilimens could slip in unnoticed into another's mind.

There were many possible methods listed but the most common one was Snape's method. Since all modern books taught Occlumens to build a fortress, the Legilimens was instructed to use a battering ram approach to weather down the defenses. It was very crude and very painful for the victim. But with enough skill, the Legilimens can cast a mild memory charm while exiting, erasing the memory of intrusion. The older books encouraged the learner to find their own method but emphasized on encompassing the attacking mind with the probe. The probe was explained as a channel into the other mind and the shape and visualization of the probe was left to the user.

Harry tried to perform Legilimency on the easiest of targets – Ron. Ron had no mental fortitude and was pretty dumb. He would never detect a probe if Harry was silent enough to cast the spell. Harry tried again and again but he was unsuccessful. He did not even have the slightest of glimpses or emotions. It was explained in the books that he should be able to get either erratic thoughts or surface thoughts and chaotic emotions if he used the spell. Even if a moderately powerful wizard casts the spell, he should get something. But all Harry got was a blank and a blinding headache. He was an utter failure at Legilimency.

It was very perplexing. How could he be so proficient at one branch of mind magic and utterly hopeless at the other? He scoured the books for an explanation and he found it in the end of a very old book.

He read that some people are unable form probes by themselves. They cannot essentially attack another wizard without being attacked first. There were people like him who could never master Legilimency either by spell or by will. They were very rare and they were an anomaly. They were absolute masters of Occlumency and were always found to be brilliant at some field of magic. They were the prodigies of their mastered fields. It was a very strange phenomenon observed in only a handful of wizards throughout the wizarding history. Such people could easily counter an attack by following the probe backwards into the attacker but they could never initiate a probe themselves. It was theorized that such people had already committed most of their mental prowess in mastering their field and at Occlumency. They had intense focus on guarding their secrets and being brilliant. They had no need or capability to snoop into others minds.

Harry was very saddened and yet happy at reading that. He knew he was brilliant and a master Occlumens. So it was not a total loss. Besides, he could attack back when someone dared to attack him with Legilimency. Maybe he could flood the attacker's mind with shadows. Anyway his impenetrable wall of inverted black hole continuously bushed out shadows. He could allow them to go along the probe back into the attacker's mind. He would have to try it the next time someone used Legilimency on him.

So the next challenge for Harry was memory charms. He would need it if he unwittingly exposed some of his secrets. He could take chances with some people and then Obliviate them if they were proven untrustworthy. He knew that memory charms could be broken by a powerful enough wizard. But still, Harry had to master them.

There were no books on Memory charms specifically in the Chamber. Memory charms were covered in Legilimency books as a part of it. The newer books in the school library were actually more detailed than the old ones. The specific spell was developed more recently and was classified as a ministry secret. But the books were available in the restricted section of the library and Harry knew his way around the security charms and alarms.

But fate was not favoring him these days. Memory charms required the basic capability in Legilimency. There were different types of Obliviation. One was erasing the last few minutes from a mind. Other was erasing a specific incident regardless of when it had occurred. Another was progressive Obliviation. This was the most dangerous and the most effective form of Obliviation. This erased the memory required and all the references to that event in the mind. With this technique, one could effectively delete Ron's friendship and all the Weasley's memories in his mind if they could succeed. This was what Gilderoy Lockhart was specialized in. Total Obliviation of a mind was just an offshoot of this type. An Obliviator could use Progressive Obliviation and use the memory of the victim himself and hence all references i.e. his entire memory would be erased. But all these methods required the Obliviator to enter the victim's mind through Legilimency and then perform the spell _Obliviate_. Since Harry couldn't perform Legilimency, he could never Obliviate anyone.

The only consolation he found was that no one could Obliviate him either. Since it was based of Legilimency, Occlumency was a shield against Obliviation too. No one could Obliviate him since he was a master Occlumens. If no one could gain access to his mind, how could they perform Obliviation?

The one good thing that happened in the few days after Halloween was his prank. He had already obtained the list of people who harassed Luna in Ravenclaw and had started preparations during the first two weeks of school. All his preparations were complete and he pulled off the prank without a hitch. No one suspected him and seeing the Ravenclaws punished, the other houses were less inclined to harass Luna too. He had planned the prank when Dumbledore was not in school. He had discreetly asked McGonagall about Dumbledore on the pretense of wanting to report back to him on something Dumbledore had asked him to do. She believed him and told him that Dumbledore would not be available for several days.

The actual prank was pretty detailed. He had found a potion that would repel a specific item from the person if drunk. He engineered the potion to repel parchment. He had the house elves put the potion in the drinks of the offenders. He got the elves to agree by tricking them into believing it was to help them with school work. Even if Dumbledore asked the elves after he got back, it would be too late and Harry kind of expected Dumbledore to let him get away with a few harmless pranks given that his father was a Marauder. Hell, Dumbledore might even praise him for looking out for Luna and doing the honorable thing without being too aggressive.

Along with the potion, he used a few charms. He locked the potion to stay in the user's body by a specific replenishing charm. This charm was triggered once they entered the great hall again after consuming the potion. He had linked the replenishing charm to Luna. If Luna performed a simple _Finite_, the replenishing would stop. He had already warned Luna about it and asked her to end it only when all of them had apologized to her. It was a simple prank but it need such long preparation because the potion took a long time to brew and the charms were hard to find. He had also sealed the prank with a charm which compelled them to praise Hogwarts if they wanted to accuse Luna of something. It was a very complicated spell and a version of the compulsion charm. He didn't want Luna to be targeted by them blaming her. This charm was also sealed to Luna so that the professors could not dispel it.

The prank was a huge success. The affected people could not submit homework or even read any book. He had engineered the repelling potion to be effective for ten meters around the person. Even their friends could not read if they sat beside them. All books consisted of parchment and the homework had to be submitted on parchment. It was a few days of hell for them. Being Ravenclaws, it affected them even more deeply.

It took them a few days to think of why they were targeted and what they had in common. The teachers were at a loss of what to do since they could not dispel the potion. The sealed charms work could not be dispelled since they were locked to Luna. Snape was positively giddy to assign detentions and take points freely.

Somehow some of the smarter ones figured out the reason and tried to get Luna in trouble. But they could only praise Hogwarts. Defeated, they apologized to Luna and premised her that they would never target her. One by one, they were pardoned and Luna forgave them. She could confirm their remorse using her empathic ability. She was not really that vindictive as to make them suffer but she was amused by it nonetheless. She was grateful to Harry for having extracted her revenge when she had no intention of doing so.

The prank was the only good thing.

The major trouble was Harry's magic. He had observed fluctuation in his magic the previous year but this year, it had continued more frequently. The inconsistency in his magic was getting more frequent and it extended for loner periods of time. He had major difficulty in performing Focus casting during the time when his magic was weakened. The longer bouts of weakness were puzzling and troubling. He didn't know the cause of these fluctuations and he was genuinely worried about the consequences. What if his magic failed to be strong when he desperately needed it? But why was this happening at all?

It seemed to be somehow linked to his emotions and animagus form. Whenever he got emotive flashes from Grim, the fluctuations occurred. Emotional imbalance and less control of his emotions also seemed to affect his magic. The Grim animagus inside him was emerging more and more and trying to merge with him. He did not know if it was expected but there was definitely something wrong as the Grim was constantly discontent and seemed to be frustrated at not being to completely access his magic. He was at a loss to explain how he knew it but it was true.

More often than not, he found it difficult to perform Focus casting and even the simplest of Battle magic spells he had learnt from the Black books during the fluctuations.

He could only hope that these fluctuations would cease as he really didn't want to ask Dumbledore anything. This weakness would be exploited if others had knowledge of it. Too much depended on him for him to afford any sort of weakness.


	9. Business

**Chapter 9: Business**

**A/N:** Until 'bolko7' pointed out certain facts, I did not think of how Harry was portrayed in the previous chapter. I had written both this chapter and the previous chapter at one go and I had not thought of the impression I was presenting when I posted only one chapter. Harry came off as irresponsible in the previous chapter while he was extremely careful and realistic in the other chapters. This chapter will explain the discrepancy.

The future was one thing that had eluded Harry's thoughts for a long time. He did not know what his life was geared towards really. Given the corruption in the ministry and the manipulations of people like Dumbledore, he needed a solid plan about his future.

Harry realized that as it was, his entire life was planned towards defeating Voldemort. No one had ever talked to him about his goals or his dreams. Everyone just assumed that his life was for the purpose of defeating Voldemort. They assumed that he would be an auror and fight Voldemort. But what about life other than that was focused on Voldemort?

The ministry was not an option for any occupation. He hated being under someone's control even if it was the auror captain. He wanted to be independent and be in control of his life. He could never follow orders from anyone, be it Dumbledore or the ministry. So he thought long and hard about what he wanted to do in life other than having fun.

Harry knew he would be the most effective fighter given his little Battle Magic knowledge and his strong affinity for it. His Grim animagus benefits would help immensely. He was not oriented towards research. He never had the patience for anything like Potions or teaching full time. He could learn about Runes and Wards and become either a freelance curse breaker or a ward specialist. But then, he would still have to work for someone, be it only for money.

So, Harry decided to be a businessman. He knew that Blacks were the true businessmen and had a lot of worth 300 years ago. There had not been a really good businessman from any family since then. Since he was the heir of Black, he could take a look at the remaining assets of the Black family and start from there.

He also had a few ideas to develop the wizarding world, for his own purposes of course. He knew that muggleborns were not respected or utilized to their full potential. He could use that source of wizards to achieve many things in the future. The untapped potential of all the muggleborns was enormous. There were also werewolves and squibs without employment. They were ridiculed and treated shabbily by everyone. He could offer them sanctuary and work. They would work for cheaper wages than bigoted purebloods who exceeded their worth.

But first he had to get the details of what he had available. That information was available only at Gringotts. He had never inquired about his inheritance or his vault balance.

On that particular Sunday, three weeks after the Quidditch game against Slytherin, Harry sneaked out of Hogwarts. He used the underground passage to get to Honeydukes in Hogsmeade. Then, he apparated directly to Dagon Alley silently. Harry used a charm to change the color of his hair to brown and an illusion to make his eyes seem blue. He had worn muggle clothes so that people would look at him in disgust rather than really look deeply at him.

The palatial marble building of Gringotts loomed before him. Goblins guards were surly as usual and very alert. He resisted the urge to squirm when they used the Probity Probe on him. That long stick kind of thing made sounds near his wand and his bracelet that he continuously wore. Satisfied, they let him pass through. Thankfully being a Sunday, there weren't many people inside the bank.

Harry made his way to the row that had the shortest queue. Soon, he was in front of the ugly Goblin. The Goblin sneered and asked "Yes?"

Harry did not like the attitude of the goblin. Sure they were surly all the time but they should at least treat the customers well. He replied sharply "I wish to inquire how to close all my vaults." It was just a scare but the Goblin didn't have to know that.

"What number? Like a muggleborn like you would have a worthy enough vault." The goblin sneered at him. Clearly given his muggle clothing, the Goblin thought him to be a muggleborn.

Instead of giving a number, he said "Harry Potter" and showed him his scar that he had covered up in his bangs. Thankfully he was the only customer in the line and no one heard him.

The Goblin's eyes widened and he called sharply "Ristask". A smaller Goblin appeared. The first Goblin addressed Harry sounding contrite "Very nasty business, this war. Sorry Mr. Potter, Ristask will take you to a manager and you can conduct your business with him." Harry noted that the Goblin didn't really address the Harry's claim of closing the vaults. Anyway, it was better to get information from a manager rather than a clerk.

He was led towards one of the doors and then through a corridor. He saw a few wizards and Goblins moving around conducting business. There were one or two meetings going on. Then he reached the corridor where there were offices of Goblins. There were many unique and amusing names on the office doors.

Finally, Ristask directed him to the office of Malspear. He vanished as soon as the door opened.

Harry noted the Spartan nature of the office. There was nothing but a desk, a few chairs and a shelf. As usual, there was a Goblin sitting on a high chair behind the desk. This Goblin was more wrinkly than others but his eyes and teeth were still sharp.

"What can I do for you Mr. Potter?" asked Malspear in a squeaky, scratchy voice.

Knowing it was no use to bicker over Goblin behavior, he asked "How is it possible that Bill Weasley was able to draw money from my vault when I never authorized it?" This was one thing that was bugging him since summer.

The goblin's expression did not waver in the slightest "We were overburdened with customers in the summer. Your appearance in the bank would have caused even more chaos. Rest assured Mr. Potter, we did not allow William Weasley to withdraw the money without reason. He assured us that he would get the money to you and we have ways of ensuring honesty among our employees. We would have known if he had not done as we had asked. Then we would have taken… measures appropriately."

Harry was not completely mollified by the answer but at least it put his concerns of easy access to rest. "Well, from now on I would prefer if only I were able to withdraw my funds."

The goblin acknowledged it with a grunt and asked "Anything else Mr. Potter?"

Harry asked "Yes. I wish to know the details of my all my assets and a statement of my vaults."

The goblin said crisply "Very well." Then the goblin wrote something on a piece of parchment and ran his finger over what he had written. The parchment then transfigured itself to a scroll which was handed to Harry.

When Harry attempted to unroll the scroll, the goblin spoke "Is there anything else you wish Mr. Potter? You may pursue the scroll at your leisure."

Harry shot down his irritation and asked instead "Do you offer interest for the wealth stored in the vaults?"

The goblin sneered contemptuously "We are not a muggle bank Mr. Potter. We do not offer interest on anything stored with us. We only offer storage of wealth and other business dealings."

Harry was not impressed. He decided to take all the information and think about it later. "Is there anything like a muggle share trading done here then?"

The goblin's sneer became more pronounced. Harry thought that the goblins were not capable of any other expression. "No Mr. Potter. There is no market trading of shares in the magical world. There are only true ownership shares for all magical businesses if the starter needs funds. You can own a part of the business and earn a share of the profits made. Any selling or buying of a part of ownership or share of ownership is solely between the buyer and the seller. We do offer our services to list available business opportunities for funding and also provide paperwork and service for selling or buying."

The wizarding world or magical world as the goblin called it was more diverse than the muggle world. In a way, Harry liked this system of ownership. There were no public offering of ownership share and no open trading of the said shares. This would ensure that the owners would reap the full benefits of the business and the business would never be affected by trading. Performance of business would directly correspond to the profits.

It looked like a good idea to know where he could invest and thus he asked "Are there any businesses that are in dire need of investment and new?" Harry asked for new businesses because the old businesses usually offered a very small share of ownership and were too firmly controlled by pureblood bigots. He had specifically asked for new business which was in dire need of funds because he could then control in part where the business was headed.

The goblin seemed to be bored with his enquires. He answered in a monotone "Yes there is one such business. The Weasley Wizarding Wheezes require a major funding. There have been no offers made to them for the three months they have offered the ownership shares."

Harry perked up when Weasley was mentioned. He was really surprised that no one had offered investment. Why the pureblood idiots had not invested so far, Harry would never understand. The twins were set to make a killing in the business. They could already rival Zonko's in their range of products. Also they had the Defense line that no other business offered. It was stupidity to not invest. He asked eagerly "Can I have more details about their offer?"

The goblin again wrote something on a parchment and scratched it with his finger. A moment later, he was given the parchment. The summary of the future plans of the Weasley twins was given. The twins wanted to lease the shop they had rented and were conducting business out of. They had no real plans of expansion in terms of another shop. But they had major plans to expand their line of Defense products which they mentioned took a lot of money to develop. They had also mentioned plans for further development in the prank section. They would own 33 percent of the business and the rest was offered to others. All in all, they required about 20,000 galleons more. Harry was really shocked at the amount. But he had wondered how the twins were able to open a shop with only 1,000 galleons. He knew that generally 1,000 galleons was a large amount to the Weasleys but it was no where near enough to run a business. He had thought that the twins had blackmailed the owner or something like that to open a shop. If a lease cost this much, how much would buying the shop itself cost?

Harry opened a scroll containing his assets and had a quick look at the bottom number. He saw he had a little over 45,000 galleons totally. That was shocking. He had been under the impression that Potters were rich and that Blacks were even wealthier. He would have to have detailed look later.

Out of curiosity, Harry asked "How much does it take to buy a shop in Diagon Alley?"

The goblin sneered and said "Even the smallest of shops cost a minimum of 250,000 galleons or a quarter million. Old businesses do not want to sell their shops or move their businesses. In prime areas of the alley, based on the dimensions of the shop, the price may even go up to one and a half million galleons."

Harry never knew it cost so much. But it was good to know such information.

"What about lease or rent?" he asked.

"A standard one year lease amount may range from 10,000 to 100,000 galleons. Any more and they won't get any takers since no business can afford that kind of money unless it is illegal. Rent varies from measly 100 galleons a month to about 1,500 galleons a month. Is that all Mr. Potter?" The goblin said irately.

The goblin seemed irritated by his questions. So, he decided to get information from someone else. "I would like to invest the whole 20,000 galleons" he told the goblin.

The goblin immediately shot him down "It is not possible Mr. Potter. The Weasleys have made a rule that one person cannot own more than a third of their business."

Harry was well aware that he could not entice the goblin to shift the rule aside for him. They only wanted to do business and were very careful about it. They would never outright break a rule but they could bend it for a fee only if it posed no problems for the goblin nation. And then too, they only did it if the risk was worth the amount paid. He could never ask the goblin to ignore the rule that the twins had put up.

Suddenly, he had a smashing idea. He could invest 20,000 galleons half in his name and half in Luna's name. Luna had pledged herself to him and would follow any order he gave her. Even if it were not for the pledge, he would have invested in her name. He trusted her.

So he told the goblin "Ok then. Invest 10,000 in my name and 10,000 under Luna Lovegood."

The goblin's eyes went a little wide showing the barest hint of shock. To a goblin, the very idea of giving away 10,000 galleons was unthinkable. But it was the prerogative of the wizard if he wanted to be stupid. He made a few notations in another parchment for a few seconds and finally said "You would only be left with 496 galleons in your trust for your disposal Mr. Potter. Are you sure you want to invest in Ms. Lovegood's name?"

Harry asked confused "I thought I had nearly 45,000 galleons?"

The goblin sneered again and answered "Totally you have 45,000 galleons but you cannot access the whole amount until you come of age. And even then, it is not likely that you would ever be able to access the Black family vault. You currently have nearly 20,000 galleons and that is the combined sum of the Potter wealth, Mr. Sirius Black's personal wealth and your trust fund. The Potter family vault does not contain any money, only a few artifacts and family heirlooms. The remaining 25,000 galleons in the Black family vault can only be accessed by Lord Black with the family ring. Only a true Black by blood can wear the ring and use it to access the family vault. The vault may have been bequeathed to you Mr. Potter but only Lord Black may access the vault. You are of course welcome to try the Black family ring to see if you are accepted as Lord Black on your 17th birthday."

Harry contemplated the new development. He had always thought that the Potters were pretty rich and that Blacks were the most well known businessmen 300 years ago. The wealth was too less to indicate any of this sort. He knew there was a vast difference in the wealth of families. The Malfoys, as much as he hated them owned a large number of businesses and were in a totally different league from other medium wealthy business families like Dumbledore, Lestrange, Longbottom, Smith, Boot and Diggory. He had thought that the Blacks were in same league as the Malfoys if not higher.

"But how is this possible? I was under the impression that the Black family was worth a lot more." It was not as if he really cared about the money though. He knew that the Blacks had to own some businesses and he could sell his share for more liquid money. If he couldn't access Black family vault, could ask Tonks to try out for the ring. If he could not have it, then at least she could use the Black money. Her mother was a Black after all.

The goblin seemed to sigh before answering "A true tragedy. 300 years ago, Lord Maurius Black withdrew a major portion of the Black family wealth from Gringotts and never returned it. The amount left in the vault by him was still more than what any other family had at that time. But the succeeding Lord Blacks' have squandered the wealth with no apparent aim for developing their assets. The Black family worth has gone down significantly over the last century leaving them where they are. They still own a few businesses that you can sell or keep Mr. Potter. They also own a few properties that are worth a bit. But your total worth is far below the Malfoys."

Harry decided to go through in spite of that. He could liquidate some of his assets later after pursuing the scroll containing his assets. He didn't really need the money right now. He still had a little left in his pouch back at Hogwarts. He was not really worried about the wealth left behind. He was more interested in the wealth that Maurius Black had taken. He would have had to store it somewhere. If the amount was as big as the goblin had indicated, there was no way that Maurius black would have used the amount by now.

"Alright. I would still like to invest as I said before." He told the goblin.

"As you wish. Would you like to wait? It should take a few minutes to ready the documents" the goblin asked in his usual surly voice.

"I'll wait" Harry answered.

Harry watched the goblin write something on another parchment. It seemed like every time a parchment was used, a new one would take its place. Harry got bored after watching the goblin for a few seconds. A minute later the goblin was done scribbling on the parchment. The parchment disappeared.

Harry asked curiously "Is it done?"

The goblin replied sneering "No Mr. Potter, it will take a few minutes."

"So can you answer a few questions for me?" Harry asked warily. He did not know if any goblin would ever do something that does not bring them profit.

"Very well. If I must." The goblin replied.

"Does the Potter family have a family ring?" Harry asked immediately.

"No they do not. They were not rich enough to warrant a very high protection vault and they did not see the reason to have one. Though powerful, the Potters were always trusting people and used their special wards to do the job of the family rings. I believe there is a Potter blood ward protecting their family vault. A ring is used as a controlling artifact. The wearer of a family ring can use the impression of the ring instead of his sign. The ring can also be used for many other purposes like accessing a vault or property. In such cases, there is almost always a set of conditions to be satisfied to be able to wear a family ring. For example, you may try for the Black family ring on your 17th birthday. You may be the designated heir but without using the ring, you cannot disown anyone from the Black family or open their vault" the goblin answered patiently, his face etched in a scowl.

"I heard that the goblins respected the Potter wards. Could you tell me how they made their money? Was it because of the wards?" Harry asked.

The goblin's eyes looked distant as he said "Ah, we at Gringotts have the greatest respect for the Potters. It was one of your ancestors who helped us ward our bank. Almost any major institution or building will have a Potter ward. Alas, I am sad to say that Potters were not inclined much about making money. Except for a few rumored magics, they shared their ward and shield creations with the general public never asking for money. If they had instead only sold the knowledge, they would have been a lot wealthier. Much of the Potter fortune comes from their rewards for capturing dark wizards. Potters have always been fighters. They were involved in every war of the wizarding world and they have been invaluable. During wars and other times, Potters have been aurors, hit-wizards and even a few unspeakables. They have made money from their outstanding service to the ministry. It is mostly the reason why they are the first targets to any uprising dark lords."

The subject was a bit too close for comfort for Harry. But before he could change the subject, a few documents popped up on the desk. "Here we are Mr. Potter. Please sign these documents. Since Ms. Lovegood is not here, I have constructed the documents to say that her share of the business is a gift from you. Is that acceptable Mr. Potter or would you like to bring her here to sign her ownership document?"

"No it is alright" Harry answered. He then proceeded to sign a multitude of documents. His hands were cramped from all the signing. He, of course read all the documents before signing. They were kind of standard ownership documents with notice period if he wanted to sell and his cooperation in running the business. In return, he was given certain lineage towards product development and nature of products. There was nothing really restricting of unfair to him in all the documents and so he was quite pleased.

Harry took his leave from the goblin and departed for Hogwarts along with the scroll containing the list of his assets.

XXXX

Harry went through the details of all his assets in detail. The scroll was pretty well explained. There was a short explanation for all assets listed. For example, Grimmauld Place was bought in a distinctly muggle environment of London 200 years ago because the Lord Black of that time was fond of hurting muggles. He considered muggle torture a fun pastime.

The only investment of Potters was Grunnings Drills, where his uncle Vernon worked. They owned a major share in the company, enough to be on their board of directors. It was explained that it was acquired on the behest of Lily Potter to secure a job for one Vernon Dursley. Harry got a wicked idea and sent a letter to the goblin Malspear about it.

In it, he mentioned that he wanted to completely disinvest his share. He did not want to sink the company, just Vernon. He knew Vernon pilfered money from the company. He also knew that the other directors in the board at Grunnings would not like a single person like him to own a major share of the company. So he directed the goblin to make a deal with the board. Harry offered to sell his share of stock to the board discreetly if Vernon if fired and jailed for fraud and embezzlement.

Harry wanted only Vernon to be prosecuted right now because he had planned the revenge on Dursleys to be done part by part. His Grim emotions were making him more vicious and ruthless in revenge. He doubted that Dumbledore or his precious Order would interfere when it was not summer months. By then, it would be too late. Vernon would be arrested by then and he would be free to dole out his revenge of Petunia and Dudley during the summer. It was a few days later that he got a letter from Gringotts giving him a copy of the share ownership of Weasley Wizarding Wheezes and the confirmation of the deal from the board of directors from Grunnings forwarded through Gringotts. Vernon would be getting what was coming to him. He was thankful that Dumbledore was not present in school to thoroughly check his mail.

The Blacks' assets also contained a lot of property in Knockturn Alley. It probably covered most of Knockturn Alley. There were a few businesses of the shady kind too. Apart from Grimmauld Place, there was only a small country estate that was no longer in use. It was small by Black standards but it was pretty humongous area wise according to the summary provided. But it was totally non inhabitable as it was in a deplorable condition. It was listed as the main Black family dwelling. Harry had no intention to live in either of the two properties.

The Potters only had their home in Godric's Hollow. It was actually a very old home. There was no real family manor as such to the Potters. Apart from a lot of artifacts and books, there was nothing else in the Potter family vault.

Speaking of family vaults, Harry had not known about family vaults at all. He did not know that Potters or Blacks had a family vault. He also did not know about the ring business to access the Black family vault or that he had to be 17 to try to access it. He was sure this was another deliberate ploy of Dumbledore to keep him ignorant about his family heritage and his inheritance.

Having seen the past withdrawal details, Harry was pleased to know that the records were impeccable. Gringotts did not give interest to the money stored like the goblin had said. There were only minimal vault ownership charges by Gringotts for every vault apart from his withdrawals since his parents' death. Thankfully no one had tried to steal anything from him. He was half afraid that Dumbledore might have stolen from his vaults before then for the Order activities. Then he remembered that Dumbledore was a certified alchemist, a headmaster and held various other titles. He was bound to have more than enough money for funding the Order.

After scrutinizing the scroll, Harry made some important decisions. He was not short on money but he wanted to hurt death eaters financially. Almost all the property he owned ran businesses that catered to death eaters' needs. He did own a part of the businesses as well. But it was the other partners in businesses and the impact to them that got him interested. He surmised that Voldemort could not very well go to any legal shop for his needs. Knockturn Alley was probably the place where Voldemort sent his death eaters for supplies.

Harry threatened to close down the businesses on his property unless they followed his conditions. His conditions were simple, the property and his share of businesses had to be sold to death eater families. He made this offer to the shopkeepers of Knockturn Alley through Gringotts. The Gringotts services cost him a lot but it was worth it. The death eaters needed supplies and they mostly got it from Knockturn Alley as he had seen Draco Malfoy being familiar with the Knockturn Alley. So, if he threatened to close them down, the death eaters would definitely buy the properties and businesses. They would loose a large amount of their ready cash and would fill up his coffer too. The businesses were not really worth enough to tolerate their business with death eaters. He would watch the death eaters; hopefully Malfoys become slowly weak financially from his actions.

He knew that there were some businesses that were not required by death eaters at all that the Blacks owned. They did not get much business and were not that profitable. So he made conditions to get rid of them too. So he made stipulations that such lesser shops had to be bought together with a more prominent business. He also offered the lesser shops at a price slightly less that what they were worth to entice the death eaters to buy it too. This way, they would be more inclined to buy both stipulated shops and he would still make a profit because he quoted the popularly required shops at a slightly higher price.

It would take some time but eventually the death eater families would suffer a great loss of available cash for them to use. Even if they wanted to sell for liquid cash, there would not be anyone rich enough to buy from them on short notice. Knockturn Alley was not really a place known for honest businesses and light sided families did not wish to venture there. So, it was a surefire way to make several death eater families weak financially.

Harry had decided that English magical community was too corrupt and bigoted for him to do any really good business in England. So, by selling most of his property in Knockturn Alley and the businesses there, he would have a relatively larger capital to start business in some other country.

Things were looking up for Harry Potter.

Harry did another relatively long lasting prank on the crass prick, Cormac McLaggen. He used a potion to induce bowel inflictions sporadically. Then he also charmed his skin to itch every time it touched water or any liquid. Since the effects were subtle but very annoying, McLaggen did not feel the need to show himself to Auntie P (as Madam Pomfrey insisted Harry call her). So McLaggen suffered for a week before one of his friends got tired of his behavior and ordered him to Auntie P.

Oh Yes! Things were definitely looking up for Harry Potter.

XXXX

There seemed to be a hormonal overload this year at Hogwarts. There were many couples being formed and they were getting more amorous publicly. There were also quite a few scuffles due to raised tempers. It might be due to escalating war outside the school walls or something else but emotions and hormones were running wild.

Ginny was a good example. She seemed distressed and agitated. When he tried to talk to her regarding that, she evaded his questions. She played it off as stress regarding the end of term tests there were approaching. But Harry knew it had something to do with Dean. He decided to watch Dean closely and if nothing worked, he decided to get both Dean and Seamus drunk after returning from Christmas holidays.

Ron was having his jealous bouts again. He tried to hide it but it was quite plain to see for those who could. Ron was also on a hormonal overdrive with Lavender. They were all over each other at all places. They were sickening.

Hermione was also another major issue. She got frustrated very easily and snapped at others. She was having troubles with nonverbal magic. For the first time, she was well behind the class at something and her frustration was bleeding into everything she did. Luna told him that Hermione was failing at nonverbal magic because her method of learning was repetitive tuition. She memorized magic by repeating everything enough times for it to be engraved in her brain. But the major problem was that she had not read books on nonverbal magic until this year.

All the books until this year said that you need an incantation and a wand movement for a spell. It was drilled into her brain. For her books were like god apart from the authorities that is. So, when another book contradicted her learning, she was at a loss. Luna told him that she was so used to being perfect with wand movements and incantations that Hermione could not let go of some aspects of a spell, like incantation. Luna, being the ever observant witch also told him that Hermione was not really powerful like him or even Ron who was a lot less powerful than him. Hermione had focus and perfection in her spells. That is why spells were a bit more powerful than they really should be. Luna also pointed out that Hermione had little aiming capability. She could do fine for closer targets but father targets were major trouble for her. Luna also mentioned that Hermione is drained rather easily meaning that she had a very small magical core. When Harry asked Luna how she knew all this, she told him that she observed almost everyone during the DA sessions. Harry was amazed by her, again.

Also, Hermione was getting emotionally brittle and unstable. He heard others complaining that Hermione was flaunting her knowledge in front of others and was getting more condensing towards everyone. It seemed like she had regressed a few years and gone back to bossy, condensing know-it-all first year. With him too she was slowly reverting to be the same way. She criticized the smallest of his mistakes and she absolutely refused to let him submit essays until she took a look at them. She was behaving as though he was incapable at anything and treating him like a child. With Ron it was totally different. She was almost in tears one time in front of him and another time, she aggressively attacked him. Later, she went to totally ignoring him. Knowledge was her domain and now suddenly Ron doesn't need her anymore and Harry was usurping her in both Defense and Potions (albeit illegally in her opinion). Harry couldn't really blame her.

It was a conflict for him. On one hand, they were still his best friends, but mostly they were not the same as they were anymore. Each of them still shared moments where they affirmed why they were best friends and known as the Golden Trio by some people in the school. Well, not directly. Hermione and Ron didn't talk to each other but each talked to him. In a way, Harry's relationship with Ron and Hermione separately was growing. There were very few times when there was one to one contact. Both of them were building his friendship separately on a deeper level again even if they had reverted a bit back to how they were at the beginning of their first year.

Phew! It was a wonder how Harry was sane among all these crazy people. A few meetings with Blaise and Daphne helped. But it was mainly Luna who kept him sane. Their almost daily lessons cum discussions were great stress busters along with his nightly physical and magical workouts.

XXXX

On one of the nights Harry and Luna were studying in the Chamber, Harry decided to come clean with her regarding Daphne and Zabini.

"Luna" Harry called out "I need your opinion on something."

Luna straightened herself and turned her attention fully on him. "Tell me Harry" she said simply.

Harry took a deep breath and began "You know I have told you most of the things that is relevant to the war situation. You know most of my plans and ideas. Can you tell me one thing that we lack tremendously?"

This was their method of conversation. It was more of an intellectual debate rather than simple talking and information sharing.

Luna thought back to what all she knew about Harry and what was the thing that was missing. It had to be something vital. They were lacking many things but what was very important and can be breached at Hogwarts. She knew Harry had the means to get away from Hogwarts but she thought that it was something in Hogwarts itself. What could Hogwarts offer other than knowledge?

She had a thought and decided to go with it "Manpower?" she asked.

Harry blinked and said "You know I never thought about that. Hmm… that can also be considered in this particular case. What I was thinking of was Intelligence and information. The Order of the Phoenix is mostly incompetent to run the war but they have heavy intelligence on the death eaters. Snape may or may not be loyal to Dumbledore but he gets information, however trivial they may be. The Order also has information from the ministry through Tonks and Kingsley mostly. But I do not have access to that information."

"I do not think that we need all the information regarding death eaters and their attacks. Sure we can learn something from the attacks but those are already in the past. I though of information along a different line entirely. What is the one thing other than money and power that all death eaters care about? Their family. Children of death eaters have been taught to keep quiet and trained but they are still children. They are one source from which we can gain a lot of information. We have access to them and potions. We can go about this in a number of ways."

"I found that I am unable to be a Legilimens. So I cannot extract the information directly from their minds. Neither you nor I can brew Veritaserum efficiently. Even if we had it, we have to kidnap some students, interrogate them and then Obliviate them. I cannot Obliviate anyone because of the same reason. If you learn to Obliviate, I can try to buy Veritaserum from Knockturn Alley or someplace else."

"Now apart from that, I thought of gaining us at least sympathy from someone who can get information to us from the children of death eaters at school. They need not have to join us or anything, but they can give us information that they overhear. I specifically thought a couple of Slytherins might help us out. Being Slytherins, the death eater wannabes might be inclined to share something with them that would never be revealed otherwise. So I approached two Slytherins…"

Luna cut in "Let me guess, Daphne Greengrass and Blaise Zabini right?"

"How did you know?" Harry asked shocked.

"I told you Harry. I observe things. You might have approached them in the first month of school. I know you are intelligent enough to not reveal anything right off the hat. Maybe, you went and flirted with Greengrass and probably behaved cordially with Zabini. And you continued meeting them on similar purposes somewhere. Even though Zabini and Greengrass remain in the background, there was a change in their behavior after the first six weeks. I am an empath as you know and I sensed the difference in their emotions. I thought about who could have intrigued them enough to make them loose some composure. Finally I came to the conclusion that it was you" Luna explained.

Harry looked at her in dumbfounded appreciation "Damn, you are good. You were right. I was responsible." Harry grinned sheepishly and said "Umm… I might have gone overboard with them recently."

Luna sighed and said "What did you tell them on Halloween? Did you loose control so much in getting drunk that you told them all that you have told me? Or did you tell them because you got the hots for Daphne and wanted her to be more than just outside informants?"

Harry was once again shocked at her brilliance "Remind to never ever underestimate you again. You are right. I didn't want Daphne to be just an informer. I want to have a chance with her. I knew they were Slytherins to the core. They have to have something to believe that they can put their worth behind me. In some previous meetings, they were appreciative of my intelligence and I played on that on Halloween. I was a bit more drunk than usual and mouth ran off more than I wished. I haven't told them too much about what I want to do in future except in broad terms. They needed to know that I was powerful enough and had the drive to succeed. For Slytherins power was a very important thing and I gave a good show. I was genuinely a bit out of control and they asked deeper questions than I had anticipated. I gave them something to think about but I went too far."

Luna interrupted him "But I am guessing that you took some measure that does not put you in jeopardy?"

Harry grinned and said "Yes. After you gave me your Pledge, I read a bit on oaths and bonds. In conjunction with some mind arts I studied, I found a way to keep them from telling anyone else. I pretended to fall asleep and when they were leaving the room, I hit them with spells. This spell, _Memoria Sodalis_, anchors a specific set of memories to the caster and makes him the keeper of sorts. It is like an unplottable charm. It is there and they can access it, but they can't reveal it. I realized that they might need to consult their parents so I left the memories of my previous conversations with them out of the spell. The talk I had with them on Halloween was the only set of memories that I put under the spell. Now they have relevant information and can make a choice to help us or not. I had rather have them not knowing so much but I was drunk and I will be satisfied that they can't tell anyone."

Thankfully _Memoria Sodalis_ spell didn't require even the slightest bit of Legilimency to dwell into the target's mind on the caster's part. The spell was mentioned in an Occlumency book that the spell, even though dealing with the mind, did not affect Occlumency since it had no component of Legilimency. It anchored the memories around an event that the caster remembered to the caster. In a way it was better than Obliviate since he wanted them to remember what he had told them. He had thought that it would be useful to the Order but when he read the details, he nixed the idea. All the members would have to be spelled at every meeting and any other tiny information will also have to be spelled again. It would be too cumbersome. A contract would be better in such case. For a single event like Harry's, this spell was perfect. Also, he didn't think that anyone knew about this spell. He had uncovered it in the Chamber books and was very old.

"So, what is the problem Harry? You have covered your slipup" Luna asked curiously.

Harry shrugged "Nothing. I had no idea of how to approach this further. As you said previously, they could give us more manpower to us. They are not aligned with either Dumbledore or Voldemort. But I needed your opinion on how far and how fast I could push them."

Luna thought for a few seconds and said "Hmm… What you have done till now is great. Prove yourself more in their eyes if you get a chance but don't approach them for joining you yet. Gain their goodwill and make them believe that they want to join you. Perhaps you can even give them a show or your impressive magical power. But if you do that, don't show them too much. It might scare them away or they might simply join you out of fear. You will want belief in those that follow you, not reverence and fear like Dumbledore and Voldemort. One thing that I definitely advise you to do is send them and their parents gifts for Christmas. That will ensure that even Zabini and Greengrass are reluctant to discuss you with their parents, they will be forced to due to your gifts to them."

Harry beamed at her "Luna, you are a cunning genius. I never thought you knew to manipulate people this well. Should I be scared?" he asked her playfully.

"That is called careful maneuvering, not manipulating" Luna told him archly.

XXXX

Playing a friend to two injured parties was a bitch. Both Ron and Hermione didn't want to admit they liked each other and got shirt when one did go out with a different person.

Harry was actually surprised to learn that even though many people bragged about having sex, very, very few couples actually did have sex at all during their times at Hogwarts. Harry almost felt sorry for making love to Ginny in the summer but he put that thought aside when he remembered that she belonged to him. It was a strange notion to him to think of someone belonging to him but it was exactly how he felt towards Ginny. He simply couldn't explain it in any other terms.

Having muggleborns had not loosened up the sex taboo at Hogwarts. It was only muggleborns and half bloods who were liberal with sex. Since there were very few muggleborns and moderate amount of half bloods who were interested in sex, there were fewer experiences. Still, Harry would have had sex with some reasonable witch like Katie.

Romilda Vane and her obsession with him was getting noticed. Hermione even warned him about love potions circulating in school. That too, Fred and George's love potions. He was their part owner for Merlin's sake. Talk about a good thing turning to bite him in the arse.

Watching Ron and Hermione baiting each other in classes was depressing. They were so intent on squabbling like kids that they didn't notice his discomfort since he could not take anyone's side.

For the sake of going to Slughorn's party, Harry made a public show of asking Luna. He had explained to her the previous day in the Chamber that he did not expect anything extra from her. He just wanted company and too many girls were not even bothering to be subtle to attract his attentions. Luna had laughed heartily at his predicament and finally agreed to go with him.

Interactions with Ginny were easier than before. She had started to treat him like a good friend again. Still, Dean was acting a little furtive about it all. Seamus too if he thought about it. The strange thing was that Neville was too quiet this year. Sure he was quiet the previous years but he had always made it a point to at least wish him every now and then. Actually, Harry never saw Neville these days at all. Granted, he was busy with Chamber and other things but still, it was as though Neville went out of his way to avoid him. Harry had thought that Neville would be more open with him since he had performed so well in the ministry at the end of last year.

Harry was utterly astonished to learn that Hermione was actually going out with Cormac McLaggen. Not just for Slughorn's party but she was actually his girlfriend. What would a intelligent, albeit bossy witch see in a dumb, brash and uncouth McLaggen?

Slughorn's party was a blast. And it was mainly due to Luna. It was hard to keep his laughter in hearing her comments about people and her replies to people. Her "Loony" act was way too amusing to see inflected upon others.

It was despicable how the vampire Sanguini was paraded around. The utter gall of the wizards in their treatment of other races was horrid. He dragged Luna away from there noticing her eyes flare angrily for a second before she exploded.

Harry didn't feel sorry at all for Hermione's troubles at the party. She did invite Cormac McLaggen and it was her fault to try and get Ron jealous. Wasn't she his girlfriend?

He was glad that Snape really didn't try anything in front of Slughorn. Before it got out of hand, Luna broke with her typical Loony explanation on why he shouldn't be an auror. The expression on Slughorn's and Snape's face was worth a thousand galleons. He really wished he had a camera.

His day got even better when Malfoy was caught by Filch trying to snoop in. Harry didn't entirely believe Malfoy's reasons but he was glad that he was caught. Malfoy looked a bit ill and was a suck up as usual. Harry neither cared not wanted to know why Malfoy looked ill. All he was interested in was why Malfoy was snooping around all the time this year.

Snape and Malfoy's conversation was enlightening. Harry was actually surprised that Malfoy had the discipline to even stat to learn Occlumency. His claims of innocence were so false that even a first year would see through him. Snape being insistent on helping Malfoy was worrisome. Even more worrying was that he had made an Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa Malfoy regarding it. Whatever Snape offered to help Malfoy with was serious if Snape thought that he needed to interfere. Unbreakable Vows were dangerous and the possibility of losing magic or dying over a promise was not a pleasant thought. Snape was never foolish and so Harry wondered why Snape made an Unbreakable Vow. There had to be a really good reason for that.

He also conceded that Snape might be working for Dumbledore and making Malfoy spill his plan. It was a very plausible explanation. But whether Snape was actually helping Malfoy or working to prevent him, the root fact was that Malfoy was up to something.

That night Harry explained to Luna his suspicion about Malfoy. She agreed with him but she asked why he was so worried. Harry had not really given a thought about why he was worried. He had just assumed that if Malfoy was up to something, it did not bode well for him. Luna pointed out that he might not be the target this time. She also explained to him that the Katie incident was not directed at him. Katie knew he was behind her when they were coming back to school and she could have given the cursed necklace to him discreetly anytime. Harry accepted that when she put it like that.

XXXX

The day before leaving for Christmas holidays, Harry met Blaise alone in their room in the dungeons.

Blaise was alone and he was reading a book on Runes. Blaise was making notes on a parchment. Harry looked on the parchment from behind Blaise's shoulder. Harry recognized the work as a Rune sequence. He couldn't quite hide his surprise at what he saw.

"Wow Zabini. What are you working on there? Siz for starting magical energy, Incit for focusing, Eihwaz for protection, Sol for solidifying, El for doubling... why have you put Del rune next to it? It wont reduce the wastage of excess energy if that is what you are after. Del will probably internally diffuse the shield sequence you are working on. You are better off using another focusing rune or a grounding rune like Aschez for reducing wastage of energy. You could also do with a linking rune like Mitrez between Incit and Eihwaz." Harry explained.

The look of surprise on Blaise's face was something Harry would treasure. Blaise remarked "Well, I didn't know you had an affinity for Runes Potter. More so, you are quite well versed in Runes if you could recognize that I am working on a shield sequence."

"Potters have been known to be warders as you know. Runes and Charms are a given if you want to master warding. So I have affinity for both and then some. But really, I am not that good at Runes. I just looked through a good Rune book when I got bored. I am not really interested in mastering Runes" Harry said cordially. He had come to like the quiet Slytherin. He had even taken to call him Blaise in his mind while he was Zabini when they first met this year. Blaise was observant, didn't pick fights and was very intelligent. Their conversations had been fun with verbal banter and good natured insults.

Blaise looked very interested now "I see. What other affinities do you have Potter?"

"Why don't you take a guess?" Harry ventured.

Blaise raised an eyebrow at the implied challenge and replied "You are good in Defense and Offense. That is what you are basically known for even though it is mainly Defense. So I say apart from Runes, Charms and Transfiguration, it has to be Defense."

Harry smirked and said smugly "Not bad Zabini, not bad. But there might be more that you are not aware of that I wont tell you about. After all why should I tell you when you didn't tell me yours?"

"More? You are one lucky wizard Potter. Many wizards would kill to get so many affinities, myself included. As you might have guessed, I have affinity for Runes. I really don't know if I have any other affinity or not since I have not yet discovered any special talent" Blaise remarked.

Suddenly, Blaise looked intently into his eyes and Harry felt a mental invasion. He felt Blaise at the edges of the shadows that covered his mind completely. Harry was fuming at his invasion. How dare he use Legilimency on him? Who taught him Legilimency anyway? Blaise easily cut through his shadows that contained his useless memories and reached the inverted black hole wall. The wall held the clear decisive strikes by Blaise and was not damaged in the least. But Harry had to hand it to Blaise for being a master Legilimens. And such a feat at this age, it was astonishing.

Harry retaliated… hard. Harry literally overwhelmed Blaise when he traced the probe back and overloaded his mind with shadows. Blaise's mind was completely shrouded by Harry's shadows. This was his first test of the only type of Legilimency that Harry could do – counter Legilimency. He could not create probes by himself but he could counter attack if a probe invaded his mind.

Harry's shadows simply passed thought the walls around Blaise's mind as if they were not there and suddenly Harry got a multitude of images and memories. Harry was not efficient as he had never done this before and he had no control over what he saw. But Harry was also ruthless and returned Blaise's attack with increased viciousness. His Grim part agreed whole heartedly at his vehement counter attack.

He knew Blaise's father was once a good businessman who was cheated and killed by his partners. The same night, his mother was raped by the same partners. Their fortune was confiscated and they were left to fend for themselves. The ministry didn't do anything about it and wrote off the murder as a burglary gone wrong. It was the reason why his mother used her wiles to trap the sons and nephews of the partners and then killed them. His father was the only one his mother loved. Blaise respected his mother despite her way of obtaining revenge. Mother and son were very close and cared for each other very deeply.

Then came the memories and images of Daphne. He was almost shocked to find that she was a natural wandless magic user. They were extinct according to the ministry. They were first cousins and best friends since childhood. Daphne's parents were Hector and Helene Greengrass. They were well known curse breakers. They left Daphne with him and his mother when they went out on missions. That was why Daphne and he were so close, almost like brother and sister.

Then came the many miscellaneous memories of school, daily life and other things.

Harry retracted into his own mind and felt the probe collapse abruptly. He saw Blaise slumped heavily in his seat.

Harry remarked coldly "It seems that you neglected to mention that Mind Arts were also another affinity of yours." Harry did not mention about any other memory he had seen. He had slight headache from the overload of information. Not bad for his first attempt but it was far from perfect.

"What was that Potter?" Blaise gasped. He was breathing a bit hard now. No one could simply shrug off such an overwhelming force in their mind.

"You tell me Zabini. I call it offensive Occlumency. If someone is foolish enough to invade my mind, they had better be prepared to handle the consequences" Harry stated intently. He was no longer furious though. His anger had melted away when he saw Blaise's memories of his mother. Blaise was a good guy in the sense that he did not relish hurting others or enjoy lording over them. There had to be a reason why he him attacked then.

He remembered Luna's advice and thought this was a good turn of events for him. He didn't really want to push Blaise too much now and refrained himself from attacking him. He had put on an impressive show of power and Luna's 'maneuvering' as she called it was working.

"I am not going to apologize if that is what you want Potter. I wanted to see if you could protect the information regarding me and Daphne. We do not want some idle Legilimens to pick up your thoughts about us. We want to survive this war and if we are seen associating with you, it will dangerous for us. And yes, I have affinity for Mind Arts. I am actually surprised that you are such an advanced Occlumens. Not even Snape can even detect my probes and he is known to have been trained by Dumbledore himself. Who trained you Potter?" he asked calmly again.

Harry's respect for Blaise grew. He stated valid reasons for his testing and admitted openly. He was surprised to learn that Snape's mind was not as protected as he thought. Snape did not have affinity for the Mind Arts after all. Blaise's ability to pierce his outer shadows with a ridiculous ease affirmed the fact that he had affinity for Mind Arts. It was only his inverted black hole shield that saved him.

Harry smirked again and replied "When you grow up in muggle world, you get a lot of ideas to use magic in different aspects. I trained myself Zabini. Remember this… fiasco and don't repeat it again."

Harry's blazing eyes and extremely aggressive stance asserted this proclamation. Even though he was seated, Harry gave off an air of being lethally dangerous if angered again. There was no overwhelming presence of strong latent magic but the message was clear. "Understood Potter. I wonder what else you have been hiding from us" Blaise commented.

"That is for me to know and for you to find out" Harry said as he stood up to walk out. He needed to sleep off the headache "And Zabini stay away from Ginny. She is mine."

Blaise smirked and said "Don't worry Potter. I may find her attractive but I assure you, I have no wish to date her."

"Why Zabini, are you gay?' Harry teased.

"What? Merlin No. I have enough company when I desire it and she is far too fiery for my tastes" Blaise exclaimed.

Harry grinned as he walked out. He was stopped by a comment from Blaise "Oh! And Potter, whatever you spell you put on me and Daphne, it was worthy of Slytherin himself. I didn't know you had it in you. We didn't even know when you managed to spell us."

Harry told him without turning back or slowing down "As I told you before, Slytherin house is not full of bigots and Gryffindor house if not full of dumb idiots."

XXXX

The same night, Harry decided to take care of another loose end. He had put off dealing with Kreacher because he had not wanted the blasted elf to know about the Chamber. He certainly did not need his services.

So Harry made a very important and very hard decision. He had always known that he would have to kill numerous times before the war ended. The problem was that even though he had killed Quirell in his first year, it was an accident. He had already seen enough deaths – Cerdic, Sirius and some in his nightmares. Harry could not afford to delay or feel squeamish when he faced death eaters. He should be able to kill them if it meant them or him. But he couldn't simply make up his mind to kill them.

So, he grudgingly decided to make use of Kreacher one last time and kill Kreacher. He wanted to kill a being first hand. He could order Kreacher to stab himself or drown himself in a volcano but he was Kreacher's master. Even if it was not a human, Kreacher was the perfect candidate for his lesson on killing. Harry could order Kreacher to remain in place if he hesitated too long. He had already decided that he would never use the unforgivables unless it was absolutely necessary. Kreacher definitely deserved death for betraying Sirius but Harry was loath to use an unforgivable even on the pitiful creature. Harry never did have a high opinion of house elves.

Harry's only fear was that he might get addicted to killing. He definitely did not want that. Who knew how far he would fall if that happened.

Harry sat in the bedroom in the Chamber and called out "Kreacher".

There was a pop and a distinctly dirty and insane house elf appeared before him muttering "Filthy half blood. Master thinks to order Kreacher around. Poor Mistress, rotting away without Kreacher. Master orders Kreacher to stay with traitor elf. Mistress will rest happy that scum are gone. Blood traitor mutt is gone, yes he is, unworthy son of mistress."

Harry expression grew thunderous as he heard Kreacher bad mouthing Sirius. The loss of Sirius still brought a pang to his heart. This was the first part of retribution for his death. Bellatrix, Snape, Voldemort and Dumbledore would complete his revenge for Sirius.

"SUT UP KREACHER" Harry shouted. "You will speak only when spoken to and you will not insult anyone. Is that CLEAR?"

"Yes Master" Kreacher said sullenly.

"You will bring me all the books in Grimmauld place. You will not make any noise or make any delay. You will not talk to anyone nor will you bee seen by anyone. You will collect all the books and immediately return here. Do you understand?" Harry ordered. He had already finished all the other books he had brought from the Black library at Grimmauld Place and he wanted to see if there were any other Battle Magic books left. He also did not want to take the chance of someone finding the library. As far as he knew, he was the only one to have found the library until now.

Kreacher vanished with a pop again. Harry waited for quite a few minutes until Kreacher returned. There were several huge stacks of books floating beside Kreacher. He could see the strain on Kreacher's pinched face. "Put down the books and stand still. You are not to defend yourself."

"Yes Master" Kreacher said insincerely.

Harry steeled himself to kill Kreacher. It was not easy as he had thought. His reasoning was sound but it was cold blooded murder. Even though it was for revenge, it was difficult to go through with. He looked at Kreacher and was surprised to see an eager and almost hungry expression. He thought that he would be punished. He would be but not in the way he imagined.

Harry did not want to torture Kreacher as he was not heartless. While the Grim inside him called out for blood, he wanted to just kill him outright. He decided to use a Battle Magic cutting curse,_ Lacerous_. It was an advanced _Diffindo_ spell, specific to the Black family. Only the members of the Black family could use _Lacerous_.

Harry pointed his wand at Kreacher and focused on the spell and made a small arc in the direction of Kreacher's neck. The spell burst forth from his wand and impacted the neck. The head neatly fell off the body and the body too slumped and fell down. The expression of Kreacher's face was that of bliss, hoping to be mounted on the pike like his ancestors in Grimmauld place. The spell beheaded Kreacher only because he was a house elf. The spell would have only caused a very deep gash, probably to the bone on a human.

Harry fought down the bile that rose in his throat. He had killed in cold blood. He felt sick but the Grim inside him was howling in triumph. It helped somewhat to deal with his rebellious stomach. The fact that Kreacher was happy to be put to death also brought some measure of peace to him. He was not a guilt prone idiot but he was not a careless murderer either. The thought of what he had done made him nauseous but at the same time, he felt satisfied for having avenged Sirius a little bit.

These thoughts plagued him that night as he went to sleep. He suffered a few nightmares during the next few restless nights.

XXXX

The weather was chilly and Harry's preparations for Christmas were complete. He had completely emptied his secret second compartment in his trunk and stored the belongings in the bedroom of the Chamber. The books, alcohol etc were all removed. He did not want to get caught with them at the Burrow. He kept the alcohol in the Chamber because he did not want to be tempted to get a drink and get caught.

He had to get a few extra presents this year. Auntie P, Luna, Daphne and Blaise and their parents, Katie, Tonks, her parents were the additions. As per Luna's advice, he was sending gifts to Zabini and Greengrass parents. Even if they didn't like the gifts, it would ensure at least discussions about him.

Harry's deal with Grunnings had fallen through. He had received an owl from Gringotts saying that it was done. Thankfully, Gringotts owls were never checked whatever the contents may be. It was a law that was followed due to agreements between the goblin nation and the ministry. He had enough gold to buy whatever he wanted for presents. But he kept many things simple.

To Auntie P, he got a pair of pearl earrings with Indian style design.

For Blaise, he picked a book from the Chamber library. It was a comprehensive book on Runes. It contained not only a dictionary of Runes but also the use of Runes in combat and daily life. That particular branch of magic was called Runic Spellcasting. It was lost centuries ago due to lack of masters in the field. It explained how to cast spells through Runes. Given Blaise's interest in Runes, he would definitely love the present. The book contained no errors like the present day Rune books had and was the singular most detailed book on Runes. It also had Enchanting objects using Runes.

For Daphne, he chose a book on Wandless Magic from the Chamber. He had learnt that she was a natural Wandless magic user from Blaise during their last meeting. Harry had not read that book but it was the only book that was there on the subject. To irritate her, he had wrapped it up in bright red and gold paper.

To indicate that he was romantically interested in her, he also sent her a delicate gold chain adorned with sapphires to match her eyes.

For Luna, he selected a collection of low priced earrings which she could mix and match. Along with that, he gave her the deed of part ownership in Weasley Wizarding Wheezes.

For Mrs. Zabini, he had chosen another set of pearl earrings.

Even for Helene Greengrass, he selected a pair of pearl earrings. He did not want to think too much about gifts and women always liked jewelry. Having never really given gifts with meaning to anyone, he did not have a lot of ideas to get people good gifts.

For Hector Greengrass, he chose a set of five ancient books that covered curses, enchantments, wards and disabling magic of all kinds that he found in the chamber. A curse breaker would definitely appreciate those ancient books. Usually curse breakers dealt with old magic and having books regarding old magic would help immensely.

For the Weasley family, he selected simple gifts as they did not appreciate expensive gifts. They were self conscious about money even now. He decided to get Ginny to go out with him again before giving her a meaningful present. So, for now, he simply gave everyone in the family an assortment of sweets along with Hermione.

For Remus, he gave a coupon for 500 galleons at Madam Malkin for new clothes and an assortment of chocolates from Honeydukes. He knew Remus loved Chocolates.

For Tonks, he chose another coupon for 500 galleons at Madam Malkin. She was depressed the last time he had seen her and didn't really know what to get her.

He also decided to get gifts for Andromeda and Ted Tonks since they were part of Black family. For Andromeda Tonks, again he chose a set of pearl earrings. He also wrote her a letter promising her that as soon as he was able to, meaning when he was 17 years of age, he would welcome her back into the Black family.

He didn't really know Ted Tonks apart from the fact that he was a muggleborn and Tonks' father. He chose a few sweets and a coupon at Madam Malkin for 500 galleons.

For Fleur, he selected a delicate silver chain containing a light pink diamond. He hoped that Bill would not be jealous. She was a good friend and a great shag. They had wonderful time this summer and he wanted to show his appreciation.

For Katie, he selected a bunch of muggle comics and a box of Honeydukes finest sweets. He also prepared a get well card for her. She was a half blood like him and he was sure that she would go crazy with boredom if she woke up.

He had bought for the gifts that were not already available to him by sneaking off to Diagon Alley under disguise the previous weekend. He was very much looking forward to a realizing Christmas at the Burrow.

He had arranged for the gifts to be mailed to the proper recipients through the postal service at Hogsmeade. He kept only the gifts for the Weasleys with him. He really hoped for a peaceful holiday this time.

XXXX


	10. Winter

**Chapter 10: Winter**

It was only after reaching the Burrow for Christmas break that Harry was able to tell Ron and Hermione about Malfoy's and Snape's conversation. They got sidetracked before they could discuss about it by the twins. Harry didn't really want to get into war business at Christmas time. He wanted to enjoy his holiday with the Weasleys like a family. They cared about him like one and however shrewd and cynical he wanted to be, he craved for the affection that the Weasley family bestowed upon him.

The interactions between the various family members of the Weasley family fascinated him. They teased, heckled and even outright bullied others but they loved each other very deeply.

There was still a few days left for Christmas and Remus was arriving at the Burrow the day they arrived. Harry thought it was a good time to approach Remus. Remus was a friend of his parents and he really hoped to get Remus on his side.

After a boisterous dinner filled with minor pranks from the twins on everyone but Mrs. Weasley, Harry asked to talk to Remus privately. The Weasleys looked at him curiously but he simply shrugged.

Harry led him to the edge of the courtyard beside the broom shed. Making sure that he had the magic masking bracelet on his hand, he cast a privacy bubble around the both of them.

Remus was surprised and his voice indicated the same "Harry, wont you get in trouble for that? And how did you learn that spell anyway?"

Harry had decided to explain some bits to Remus and if Remus believed him, he would then come clean to him. "See this bracelet?" he said indicating to his right wrist where the magic masking bracelet was secured "It masks the magic performed by the hand it is worn. The privacy spell is there in plenty of books in the library and surely you understand the importance of such a spell Remus" Harry chided gently.

"Why do I get the feeling that you are about to turn my world upside down?" Remus asked having heard Harry.

Harry let out a deep breath and asked "Alright then I will get to it without beating around the bush. Did you notice anything suspicious about the events surrounding me?"

Remus smiled gently "Harry, no one but you really knows what happened in regards to you. The events at Hogwarts are not known generally. Even the Order does not know what really happened during your years at Hogwarts except for your fourth and fifth years. Even then it was just the basics. All anyone knows are rumors about your adventures."

Harry told him thoughtfully "Is that so? Interesting. I wonder why all of it was kept under wraps though."

Remus said softly "Rumors fly everywhere when it comes to you Harry. Why don't you tell me in brief what happened and why I should be suspicious?"

"Alright", Harry said "First year. A troll got into Hogwarts. Three first years broke through all the protections laid by the best of Hogwarts professors and I got to face Voldemort. He had possessed the defense professor, Quirell for a year and yet no one noticed. Ron and Hermione accompanied me but I was alone at the end. I had to fight him to save the Sorcerer's stone hidden in a mirror. Second year. Students were petrified and I was accused of bring Slytherin's heir. I found out I was a parselmouth and I used it to gain entry into Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets. I fought a fifty foot Basilisk which was controlled by a memory of 16 year old Voldemort. I killed it with the help of Fawkes and Sword of Gryffindor to save Ginny. I only came out alive because Fawkes healed me. Again I was alone as Ron was held back with a memory charmed Lockhart. Third year, you know most of it. But at the end, Hermione and I faced off against a hundred or so dementors. My Patronus saved us. Fourth year. You must have heard the broadcasts from the WWN of the different tasks. In the graveyard, when Voldemort came back, I faced him and the death eaters alone. I escaped with my life due to the ghost impressions of my parents that came out of Voldemort's wand. Fifth year. Many troubles and a ministry lackey at Hogwarts to lord over us. Brutal Occlumency lessons with Snape and visions from Voldemort. In the end, an ill fated trip to the Department of Mysteries where I fought with Voldemort alone in the end again. By some freaky luck and Dumbledore's help, I survived. Now do you see anything suspicious?"

Remus was thoroughly shocked but his impressive intellect began working almost immediately. "You were alone in facing the dangers at school every year, dangers, which should never have been there in the first place. Until you came to Hogwarts, there were no outward incidents at Hogwarts at all. It seems like they were orchestrated just for your sake. Most of the incidents seem out of control and they very well may be but it could just be that there was someone handling the events behind the scenes. I do not know what has happened in detail and so I can't be sure but it is very suspicious that you were made to face the dangers, in most cases Voldemort alone."

"Yes. And do you ever wonder why I was sent to the Dursleys every summer to be ridiculed? I never knew that I was a wizard until Hagrid told me when he came to deliver my letter. Even after I witnessed the murders of Cedric and Sirius, I was sent there with no communication at all. Voldemort used my blood during his rebirth and still the supposed 'blood wards' were supposed to be safe" Harry told him trying to press his point home.

Remus sighed and his face fell as he answered "I did try to gain custody of you Harry. But since I was a werewolf, the ministry did not allow me. I was banished from Britain for a decade for moving the custody to the court. It was only during your second year that I came back to England. Harry", Remus said sincerely "there is a lot going on around you. I do not know what all you have been subjected to but I assure you that I have no part in any of it. If you have any idea who it is and you want any kind of help, you have me at your disposal."

Harry was a bit surprised learning that Remus was banished from Britain for a decade. He had wondered why he had not visited him at the Dursleys. Now he knew. "It was Dumbledore." When Remus made to interrupt, Harry cut in "Think about it Remus. He was the only constant in all the times of my life. He gives the orders to almost everyone. The ministry would have done something to either get into my good graces or gain control of me if they were behind this. Voldemort was still a spirit when most of this happened. Dumbledore arranged for most of this. Surely there were some things he had not counted on, like Voldemort's rebirth. But everything else fits. It was better for me to be safe and downtrodden rather than arrogant and healthy. It was better for me to be tested in small ways every year rather than having a good education free from danger. It was better for me to learn on my own rather than depending on teachers as others students normally do. It was better for me to listen to Dumbledore and obey him like a good little boy." Harry voice had risen through his rant and he had to visibly calm himself before his magic went out of control.

Remus replied shakily "It does seem there are too many loose ends that hint at Dumbledore. But why would he do that? What does he have to gain by all this?" Having one's deep trust shattered was not a comforting thought. Being a werewolf, he had been very grateful to Dumbledore when he was allowed to attend Hogwarts. He also considered that Dumbledore was a force that stood up against Voldemort and he had to follow him to stop the evil. But what could be gained in controlling a child, albeit a special one like Harry?

Harry shrugged "I am not entirely sure why. But there is a prophecy about me and Voldemort. Maybe I am the weapon that Dumbledore wanted to mold and control to dance to his tunes. Maybe he liked being in control and wanted to shape me as his protégé. I don't know the why of it but I do know that he has done it and is doing it. I respect his power and his resources but I don't trust him Remus. He may very well be the greatest wizard of this age who is leading the fight against Voldemort but his actions concerning me are unforgivable in my eyes. I may listen to his advice but I want to pull my own weight in the war."

"You have given me a lot to think about Harry. This is the biggest shock I have ever received. A wizard as renowned and respected as he is can get people to do things for him. If he is truly behind all this and has a motive for doing them, I simply can't understand. You are telling me about a prophecy. James had told us about a prophecy about Voldemort and you or Neville Longbottom. Is it the same one?" Remus asked.

Remus didn't really believe in him yet. He needed a little more information. "Yes, it is the same prophecy. It says that it is either Voldemort or me. Kill or be killed. Neither can live while the other survives."

Remus rubbed his eyes tiredly "That might do it. Dumbledore would have controlled you if that was the case. He did say that the Order was protecting a weapon. He kept a close watch on you during the summers. He had us follow you everywhere. He specifically told the Order that keeping you safe was the first priority. He gave me all the clues himself and I didn't even realize it. I just took it at face value like everyone else. This is all too much. Bloody fucking hell!"

Harry decided to give Remus a break and adopted a mock shocked look "Remus! You swore. An educated and soft spoken wizard like you cursing?"

Remus growled "Don't play with me now Harry. I am pleasant most of the time to keep the wolf inside docile. It gets agitated when one messes with its pack. It considers you its pack member and is raising its hackles now." His eyes were flashing amber now and then.

Harry was not scared in the slightest "Impressive. But now is not the time for discussing your lycanthropy. Maybe it sounds cold to you but I want to know if you are with me? I have a few things going and I want to form my own side in this stupid war. I need someone to look at things from an adult's perspective. There is a lot I don't know about the wizarding world and I need someone with the knowledge of how the world works." Harry's voice softened as he said imploringly "I really want you with me Remus. You were a friend of my parents and I _need_ you with me. You are like another godfather to me."

Remus also spoke softly but earnestly "Harry, I am always with you. One of the main reasons Sirius and me joined the Order the second time was to keep you safe. But we haven't done that till now. I am sorry for that and I promise I will help you Harry."

Harry was never the one to show affection openly but he was really relieved that Remus was on his side. He hugged the surprised man who returned his embrace. Knowing that the last friend of his parents supported him made him feel warm. Hearing that the main reason for Sirius and Remus joining the Order again was him moved him in ways that he couldn't describe. They cared about him to consider his safety as the main reason to fight against Voldemort.

"Thank you Remus. It means so much to me that you are with me" Harry mumbled heartily.

Remus laughed "You should never have had doubts in the first place. Now" Remus said as he let go "do you have any ideas about how you are going to proceed? I need more time to think on this and you did say you had a few things going. I will think more about how I can help you and if you need anything to be done, just tell me alright?"

Harry grinned and said "I have a few prospects at school. I have been training myself in magic since my first year. I don't really know how good I am but I bet I can take care of a death eater or two. I need to duel with experienced wizards to improve and I hope I can make arrangements for you to duel me. I have a very good area and an advanced library at my disposal at school. It is completely private. But right now, I was thinking that you could garner us some support from the werewolves. I know you are doing the same thing for the Order but I want you to advocate us. I have been liquidating some of the darker investments of the Black family and I can easily provide Wolfsbane to a large number of werewolves for quite a few months. I just don't know where to find someone to brew the potion. Suppose you could help me with that? And maybe I can set up something for them to have jobs later."

Remus laughed "Wow, you have been preparing. Nice ideas. I can find a Potion Master or at least some apothecary to brew the potion. Even if you don't ask, I will tell you what I can about the Order. We have to know what Dumbledore is up to. I will also ask discreetly if anyone is interested. I think I can free up time to train you if you are interested. Or we can duel if you want."

Harry beamed "That would be great. But send your mail to Luna Lovegood. She is helping me the most these days. All the mails are being monitored and I think mine will be watched the most. Just tell me the day to meet you in Hogsmeade in the letter and nothing else. We can discuss things when we meet at… say the Three Broomsticks. How does that sound?"

"Perfect. I hope we can talk more in detail soon" Remus told him.

"Yes soon. Remus, do you know Occlumency? Both Snape and Dumbledore are Legilimens and will probe you" Harry asked concerned.

Remus smirked "Being a werewolf has its perks. I know the basics but it is not needed due to supernatural shields. I hope you have learnt Occlumency? I heard about the disastrous lessons with Snape."

Harry smirked back "I bluffed. I knew Occlumency long before he started to 'teach' me. Believe me Remus; I have a few tricks up my sleeve."

Remus laughed freely "Alright I believe you. I have seen the same thing with Sirius and James to know that you can handle yourself. Be careful and give me some time to think this over. I might have a few ideas that you might not have thought of."

"Sure Remus. In the mean time, please act as though we have not had this discussion. I don't want anyone suspecting me yet" Harry replied.

"No problem Harry. I think it will be better if I am a bit aloof but advisory to you in front of others. It will throw off others if they think you might come to me for help since I am James and Lily's friend" Remus told him.

Harry refrained from putting the _Memoria Sodalis_ spell on Remus because he saw the sincerity in his eyes. The feelings behind his words were genuine and the Grim agreed with him. He did trust Remus and knowing that he had supernatural mental defenses eased his concerns.

Harry was very glad Remus agreed. It was a big shock to his system and he understood that Remus needed time to think on it. In spite of that, Remus recovered and thought logically. Harry was impressed with that. Remus might not have comprehended the seriousness of the moves Harry was making right now but Harry had no doubts that Remus would deduce it when he had time to think over the information Harry had revealed.

XXXX

Christmas Eve was fun and joyful at the Weasleys. Harry was glad Remus was with them.

Harry got a chance to talk to Mr. Weasley that night. He learned that the ministry was just as incompetent as it was under Fudge. They were passing off arrests of innocent people for death eater arrests. As expected, his news on Snape and Malfoy only generated smoke and nothing else. Remus putting on an act or otherwise, argued with him. The adults were of the idea that Snape was offering a helping hand to learn Malfoy's plans. Harry personally thought that Remus advocating Dumbledore's decisions were a bit over the top though.

The information about Greyback was repulsive. How sick could a person to ruin the entire life of children by biting them. Granted there were ways to ensure safety but it cost high and most people didn't have that kind of money. Besides the painful transformations, the scorn from the public would effectively ruin their lives. He also realized that until Greyback was neutralized, werewolves wouldn't readily accept his offer for help. It seemed like all other werewolves were too afraid to revolt against him.

Harry was curious about the identity of the Half Blood prince and hence asked Remus about it. But he found nothing useful. He had better things to do rather than worrying over his identity.

Lavender's gift for Ron was awesome according to Harry. It was humiliating and really sickeningly mushy thing. But it was expensive. Harry thought that Ron would wear it if only for that reason.

Harry didn't know how the present from Kreacher got to him. He had killed Kreacher. It utterly stupefied him. How could it be possible? He might have to ask someone in the kitchens then since Kreacher used to work there. Maybe some other elf found it and sent it to me. But if he asked around, it would indicate that he knew about Kreacher's disappearance. Shit! He couldn't do anything about it.

He clamed down and examined the other gifts in detail. To get some semblance of control, he cluelessly asked Ron about elves getting Christmas presents.

The arrival of the minister of magic and Percy was a shock to everyone. It was clear to him that Percy was at the Burrow simply because he was ordered to do so. Ginny, Fred and George were glaring at Percy.

The reason for the visit soon became apparent as Harry was requested to walk with Scrimgeour, the minister.

Harry decided that it was polite to keep his answers short or not answer at all while he thought. He was sure the minister was trying to get in his good graces. He had to choose his answers carefully. He did not want to offend the minister but he did not want to support him either.

Hearing the crap about the 'Chosen One' and standing with the ministry, Harry nearly blew up. Bribing him with being an Auror in return to be a ministry lackey was a big no no.

Harry decided then to portray himself as Dumbledore's man. The reason for this was fairly simple. Scrimgeour was the minister now and was an auror before. Harry knew that there was little pureblood power behind the minister these days. The ministry was being seen as inefficient. Rufus Scrimgeour might be in power now but he was not a reliable power. Dumbledore might be a manipulating bastard but no one could deny that he had all kinds of power. Most of the ministry would bend over backwards to accommodate him. He was also the head of Wizengamot and the International Confederation of Wizards. Dumbledore could make the life of any minister difficult if he chose to do so. Another major reason was trust. If Harry took the minister's side, Dumbledore would monitor his every move and he would have no freedom. Harry still needed a lot of time to prepare and this would hamper his efforts greatly. If he did back Dumbledore, Dumbledore would trust him a bit more and would lax his watch. That's why backing Dumbledore would be doubly beneficial to him.

When Scrimgeour said that it was his duty to be used by the ministry, Harry barely held himself in check. He would not be under anyone's control, not Dumbledore, not the ministry and definitely not Voldemort. To reinforce his dislike, Harry silently put an illusion on his right hand that looked like the scars that Umbridge had inflicted upon him. That was the final nail in the coffin. The minister realized that he couldn't convert Harry to his cause and left.

XXXX

The next few days were relaxing. Without Hermione being there to nag him, he had much more free time. It also meant that Ron was more peaceful around him without the strain of avoiding Hermione.

Harry was bored. He couldn't do his daily run and all of his physical exercises due to the snow. He was only able to do warm up exercises so as to not stop his daily workout completely.

Indoor games soon lost interest to him. There was only so much of Chess and Gobstones one could take. Conversations with Ginny were pleasant and fun. Fleur was also good to pass time. Mrs. Weasley was fussy and Mr. Weasley was hardly there due to work. Bill made intelligent conversation but he was more occupied with Ron and Fleur. The twins dropped in occasionally and he had a fun time watching them tease Ron.

Harry also started to give hints of liking Ginny. He made sure that Ron noticed. He was sure that his idea to have a binge night with his dorm mates would reveal something about Dean and Ginny. So he wanted to have a head start. He also thought of giving hints to Hermione about liking Ginny once school started again.

The only thing Harry accomplished was trying Teleportation. It was the third and final phase of personal transportation. Since he didn't really need much sleep, he snuck out to practice at night.

He moved out of the wards surrounding the Burrow to try for the first time. He wanted no obstructions for the first time. He willed himself to transport a few metres away. But when he traveled there, he realized he had apparated. The next time, he concentrated more on the feeling of Sliding and then thought to travel like Apparation. He felt a good deal of drain on his magic but he succeeded. It was very different and yet similar to Apparation and Sliding. It was like traveling though a gust of wind. Apparation was like squeezing though a tube and Sliding was like ice skating.

He practiced for a few hours outside wards to get a hang of it. After a few tries, he learnt to limit the heavy drain on his magic. His body slowly got used to traveling in a new way and hence conserving the amount of energy wasted.

The next challenge in Teleportation was traveling though wards. He stepped inside wards of the Burrow to try it out. Again he focused on Teleporting to a few meters outside the wards. This time, the drain on his magic was clearly felt. The wards around the Burrow were very impressive and he sensed that a lot of his power was used to travel though the wards. He barely made it to bed that night as he was exhausted and magically drained. Thankfully a good sleep covered his tiredness.

It was strange but he finally understood the complete definition of Teleporting. There was no piercing of the wards or breaking of wards involved. While Teleporting, a theoretical hole was created though the Apparation ward enabling him to Teleport outside the wards. This theoretical hole was only temporary and was covered as soon as he traveled through. Other wards also affected Teleportation since Apparation wards were usually tied together with other wards. All the other wards leant more power to the Apparation ward to try and stop him from Teleporting. He needed more power to overcome this resistance. The very nature of magic enabled different wards to support each other if they were properly aligned. The resistance was not equal to the total power in all the wards rather it was only what was available to the Apparation ward through the various wards.

He only realized all this when he performed his first true Teleportation successfully though the wards. From then on, it was only refinement. He would need more practice and he decided to sneak out of school to practice. Harry knew like Apparation, distance mattered in Teleportation too. He had to practice to travel longer distances too. He was not ready to pit himself against the ancient wards of Hogwarts this soon. He thought he would need a lot more power and a lot more refinement before even thinking of trying it.

XXXX

Soon after reaching Hogwarts, he got summons from Dumbledore to have a 'lesson' again. As expected, his suspicions of Malfoy and Snape were not totally accepted by Hermione. Apparation lessons were a surprise and he had to join to show that he didn't already know it even when he did. Ron's announcement that Harry had gone side-long with Dumbledore seemed to generate a lot of unwanted interest. He had to give some silly excuse to escape.

Meeting Dumbledore again was a chore. Hopefully it would be more helpful than the previous lessons. Dumbledore appeared to be touched when he told him about him being a 'Dumbledore's man thorough and thorough'. Harry couldn't make out if it was genuine or not.

Dumbledore was a bit sharp with him when he questioned Snape's loyalty again. Harry thought it was a fair accusation. They both knew that Draco Malfoy was up to something. Why take the chance of him hurting anyone? Why endanger the other students needlessly? Why not question him at least? But Dumbledore refused to hear anything about that subject.

Dumbledore told him more about Voldemort's time at school. Then they saw the memory. Voldemort was ingenious even in youth. He covered his tracks well, too well. Framing his uncle and having him admit it to the aurors was over the top but it said two things – Voldemort was very gifted in the mind arts and aurors were not as good as they claimed to be. Harry knew from his own research that it was not easy to make a man admit to murder unless he was under the _Imperious_ curse.

The second memory gave the true account of how charismatic Voldemort was. The group around him clearly admired him and he liked to show off. The stolen ring was on his finger and Slughorn seemed impressed by him. Harry realized that Slughorn was older than he looked. Voldemort was in school at least fifty years ago and Slughorn was a professor back then.

The unnatural white fog apparently showed tampering with the memory. Harry's task was to collect the true memory.

But there were so many questions. What the hell was a Horcrux? Harry didn't even know there was an antidote to Veritaserum. Dumbledore mentioned that Slughorn carried it with him. Harry had to act the favored pupil again to get the information.

The next class with Slughorn was a bust. Harry didn't know much about Potions even if he knew the basics pretty well. He had absolutely no idea what so ever about antidotes. Harry was really annoyed at the way Hermione mocked him about Half Blood Prince's book not helping him this time. The information about _bezoar_ was very welcome and Harry thought he might just get out of it. Thankfully Slughorn bought it. He was actually impressed at his cheek to just show the bezaor.

Both Hermione and Malfoy looked livid at his success. It was cheating but who cared?

Later, Harry thought it was totally tactless of him to simply ask about Horcruxes right after class. Slughorn deduced that he had been put to task by Dumbledore and denied having further knowledge about Horcruxes. Hermione also couldn't find anything about it in the library other than that it was the vilest of magics. What did Slughorn know about such dark magic that even Dumbledore didn't?

XXXX

Over the next few days, he got back into his routine. Luna thanked him profusely for his Christmas gift. He told her about Remus and she was happy for him.

As he had decided, Harry starting dropping hints that he likes Ginny around Hermione. He had to be subtle because Hermione was exceptionally sharp.

Harry also took a look at the books Kreacher had brought from Grimmauld Place. He and Luna took a long time to organize them properly into categories. Harry was disappointed to note that there weren't anymore Battle Magic books available. Whatever he had learnt till then was only the basics of Battle Magic and it was mentioned in the books that all the remaining knowledge was hidden by Maurius Black 300 years ago. The rest of the books were mainly on Dark Arts. Harry asked Luna to search through them in her spare time for any information on Horcruxes. He had told her about Dumbledore's sessions as soon as they were done.

Just after a week in Hogwarts, Blaise dropped off a note in Potions class to meet him and Daphne that night at the usual room in the dungeons.

When Harry walked into the room, he was unsurprised to see them already there.

"Hey there, how was Christmas?" Harry asked jovially as he plopped down on a chair.

"Fine, no thanks to you" Daphne replied frostily.

"My, my, what a wicked temper? What has got you so worked up beautiful?" Harry asked innocently.

"You very well know what would have happened Potter. Don't act innocent. What was the big idea in sending gifts to our parents? Do you know how much we have to answer to our parents? And what is that spell that you put on us?" Daphne asked angrily glaring at him.

Harry chuckled and replied "You already know answers to that. If not, you would not be Slytherins right?"

"Right. Stereotype Slytherins" Blaise said dryly.

Daphne turned and scowled at Blaise "What is the matter with you?" she snapped at him.

Blaise just lounged in his comfortable chair and said "Come now Daphne. He outplayed us clearly. He gave us information and covered his tracks. You know I told you about his Occlumency and that bleeding counter Occlumency. It certainly impressed our parents."

He turned to Harry and said "Our parents thank you for your thoughtful gifts by the way. My father was especially ecstatic about his books. Any chance of us knowing your source? Such books are invaluable."

Harry grinned "Play your cards right and I might give you complete access to my horde of extraordinary books."

Daphne was still scowling "Show him a couple of good books and he goes drooling. Some Slytherin you are" she told Blaise disdainfully.

Blaise grinned, the first time in Harry's presence "Daphne, just because you are not interested in gaining knowledge does not mean others are like that too. Knowledge is power after all."

"What use is knowledge if you can't apply it practically?" she shot back.

"Who is to say what kind of books I might find? Don't delude yourself Daph, you loved your gift from Harry" Blaise retorted.

Daphne flushed slightly but refused to back down "And who was the one positively drooling over his gift? You even almost missed the Christmas dinner because of it. You and your damned fascination with Runes."

Harry was delighted to see the good natured bickering between them. He was also glad that his gifts were well received, especially with Daphne. He noticed that she was wearing the necklace he had given her.

Harry cut in smoothly "Daph… it is a nice nickname. You apparently liked my other gift since you are wearing it."

"I happen to appreciate fine jewelry Potter. It matched nicely with my eyes and so I used it. And you do not have the permission to call me Daph" she told him icily.

"Why not Daph? Is that the only reason you wore it?" Harry asked impudently.

She flushed again. Blaise laughed, another first in front of Harry, and answered him "No Potter. She has this tiny little crush on you for years and this year you showed her your new face. It bloomed enormously. Lets just say I got tired of hearing about you this Christmas. Regardless of how she might act towards you now, she likes you and was flattered by your gift. Don't let her tell you otherwise."

Daphne rounded on Blaise furiously "You were not supposed to tell him that. You had promised."

"So… I broke it" Blaise replied nonchalantly.

"You… you…" Daphne sputtered.

Harry laughed delightedly "Daph, all you had to do was ask. I am really flattered that you think me worthy of your affections my lady. May I have the honor of courting you?" Harry asked formally yet teasingly.

Daphne blushed at his words and replied "One last test Harry. If you pass that, I will accompany you on ONE date. One date only."

"Finally you called me Harry. One date is all I need Daph. What is this final test then?" Harry asked eagerly.

"You have to duel us both simultaneously. We want to see how good you are. If you win, you get a date with Daph" Blaise replied this time.

"Sure" Harry replied confidently "When and where?"

"How about right now and right here? There is enough space here for a friendly duel" Daphne challenged.

Harry remembered that Luna wanted to see him duel. It was a good time for them to meet each other too. He told them "A trusted friend of mine wanted to see me duel. I will just go and get her." Then he winked at Daphne and said "Don't be too surprised at what I do next."

Then he Slid to the Chamber where he knew Luna was currently since he had left her there. It would have been amusing to see their reactions to his disappearance. He saw that Luna was not in the library where he had left her. He walked to the bedroom and found her.

He bounded to her happily and hoisted her up to her feet "Hey Luna! Daphne agreed to go on a date with me if I win a duel against both her and Blaise. Since you wanted to see me duel, you might as well meet them."

Luna laughed at his enthusiasm and dropped her book "Let us go then. Obviously you left them to wonder how you disappeared. You have such a penchant for dramatics Harry."

Harry grinned and Slid back to the room with her. They both took two steps to gain proper balance after Sliding.

The expression of shock on both their faces almost sent him into fits of laughter. He was gone only a few seconds.

"What… How did you… Can't apparate…" Blaise stammered.

At the same time, Daphne exclaimed "Loony? Loony Lovegood?"

Harry made the introductions "Blaise, Daphne, meet Luna. Luna, meet Blaise Zabini, a bookworm interested in Runes and Daphne Greengrass, the beautiful girlfriend to be for yours truly."

Daphne scowled at him "Don't be too confident Potter." She turned to Luna and apologized "Sorry for earlier Lovegood. I am pleased to meet you but I just hadn't expected you that's all."

Luna laughed it away "Don't worry about it. I have been called worse and if we are going to work together from now on, you need to know that it is just a mask I keep up."

Blaise then said admiringly "You would have made a fine Slytherin. But is it not presumptuous of you to think that we 'work' with you?"

Luna smirked "Of course not. If Daphne is willing to purse a relationship with Harry, it means that you will no longer be neutral. You would put your worth with Harry and back him. You must have discussed this with your parents and obtained their assent for this since it is such a big step for your families. And you want to duel him now so that you can know if he really worth everything he has been known for. And I seriously doubt if the two of you could beat him."

Blaise was clearly impressed with Luna "An intelligent as well as a sly witch." He took hold of her hand and kissed the back of it, bowing slightly "Enchanted to you meet you Luna. But I do wonder how you ended up being his most trusted friend. I expected Weasley or Granger."

Harry noted that Luna flushed at the attention bestowed upon her. She was not used to such displays from handsome men apparently and Blaise _was_ a handsome guy.

"Harry needed a friend who would not hog him or nag him about anything. I just happened to offer a listening ear. My Witch's Pledge also helped" Luna replied casually.

Daphne sucked in her breath sharply "A Witch's pledge! What made you do that?" she almost shouted at her.

Luna replied calmly, smiling at Harry "Harry is worth it and more. He has not once abused his privileges and has not asked me for anything. If you give him a chance, you will know how much a true gem Harry is among men."

Harry was embarrassed "Luna…" he started.

"Don't be so modest Harry. It is the truth after all" Luna cut off sternly.

"Right" Blaise remarked "How about the duel?"

There was a lot of empty space in the room apart from the sitting area. Luna pointed to the empty space and asked "How about there?"

"Sure" Harry said "You can stay here and shield yourself Luna."

Harry then drew his wand which seemingly just appeared in his hand. He pointed his wand at the door and charmed it to be locked securely. He put an impenetrable charm on the room and silencing charms on all the walls and the door. Harry was glad that he was able to use Focus Casting right now. He was a little afraid that his magic would fluctuate and he would not be able to win.

He noted that Daphne and Blaise were impressed with his Focus casting despite themselves. He moved to the empty space and readied himself.

Blaise called out "Whatever you did when you entered with Luna Potter, consider it barred."

Harry grinned back "I don't that kind of advantage to defeat the two of you Blaise. Luna, countdown please."

In the three seconds of countdown, Harry observed them as he readied himself. They were both still wearing robes unlike him who was wearing pants and a shirt. Daphne had her wand pointed at him even when she could do wandless magic fluently. She faced him sideways, offering him less of a target. Blaise had a relaxed stance and had his knees bent to be able to move easily. They had been clearly trained in dueling.

Harry concentrated on his Grim part a bit to hopefully bring it to the surface. He relaxed himself and called forth his magic to the surface. All it really meant was that he could fire off the first spell faster than they could. He narrowed his eyes as he focused on them properly. Friends and allies or not, he would never be defeated in a duel. Harry knew he had no 'set' stance like professional duelers. It was both an advantage and disadvantage. The good thing was that his opponents could not predict his moves because most dueling stances were known to have some advantages and disadvantages. The bad thing was that sometimes, he might get caught off balance.

Blaise and Daphne noticed the changes in Harry as he prepared to duel them. They saw the slightly crouched stance and a relaxed posture. They also saw the narrowed eyes and the grin that remained on his face. It was an eerie sight.

They all heard Luna's voice "Three… Two… One… GO."

**A/N:** **All Battle Magic spells used by Harry are the ones from Black family books. The Battle Magic spells developed by others that I had mentioned in earlier chapters is not used by him unless specified.** Also note that Harry is NOT voicing his spells out loud and is using Focus casting.

Harry decided to only hold back on the truly damaging spells. Harry quickly rolled to his side and shot off a Stunner at Blaise. He saw two jets of light pass by where he stood before but no voices calling out the spells. So, both of them were well versed in nonverbal spells.

Harry jumped to his feet and ducked another red colored spell shot at him. He then cast _Reducto_ at Daphne.

She put up a shield but Harry felt the floor become slippery. Daphne was using her wandless magic. Blaise was not quiet either. He had shot a purple colored spell at his torso.

Harry didn't want to take a chance with a simple _Protego_ shield. So he used a high level auror shield, _Reflecto_. The purple spell from Blaise was reflected sideways into the wall by his shield.

Since they both used unnecessary wand movements, Harry had an advantage of having much faster casting speed. Both together could barely match his speed. Focus casting was truly a boon.

Harry dropped the shield and side stepped the slippery floor. He shot off a much stronger spell that he had seen Bob Odgen use, _Relashio_ at Blaise. He also cast an _Incarcerous_ hoping to bind him. These low level spells did not even need any small wand movement from him.

A split second later, he shot _Flipendo _right at Daphne and _Petrificus _with a flick of his wand to her left hoping to catch her when she dodged. _Flipendo_ spell caused the target to be pushed back a bit. _Petrificus_ was actually a Battle Magic spell of the Blacks. It petrified the target where the caster concentrated. If the caster wished to petrify the limbs, he had to cast the spell focusing on the opponents' limbs.

To his surprise, Blaise drew three Runes in the air with his wand and calmly withstood the feeble spells. Even though there was power considerable behind the spells, the spells themselves were weak. Blaise was really good with Runes if he was using Runic Spellcasting this soon. He hadn't even known about the subject before Harry gave him the book for Christmas.

Daphne too did something that he did not expect. She did not drop her previous shield and cleanly absorbed the _Flipendo_ shot at her. She brought her left hand up and pointed her palm at him.

Harry felt himself being pushed back violently. He crashed into the wall and fell down.

He got up angrily.

"No more playing" he growled at them, his eyes flashing dangerously. He felt the Grim growl with him in agreement.

He stalked towards them and cast spells directly at Blaise. _Pulsato_ was the first with a jab at his direction. It was a bludgeoning Battle Magic spell of the Blacks. It crashed though his Rune shield caused him to stumble backwards from the force of the spell. He followed it up with _Altefy_ again a simple jab in his direction. It was also a Battle Magic spell for stunning. Blaise was knocked out of the duel as he slumped down bonelessly.

Harry turned sharply and cast _Sperectum_ giving a light twirl with his wand. It was a Battle Magic shield spell. Daphne's two spells, the brown one from her wand and the red one from her left hand collided with the shield. But the shield held.

Daphne made a beckoning gesture with her hand and he felt himself being pulled forwards. Instead of resisting, he cast _Pulsato_ at her feet and _Adepto, Fundo Subnecto, Altefy_ at her with a jab, a slight pull, a flick and a final jab with his wand corresponding to the spells. _Adepto_ was a Battle Magic spell equivalent to a high powered _Accio_. _Fundo Subnecto_ was also a Battle Magic spell that petrified and bound the target with iron chains.

Harry rolled forward with the pull of the wandless spell and shot to his feet when it ended. He had not used _Lacerous_ as he wanted to on Daphne as it would cause a deep cut to the bone and he did not want to hurt her too much.

_Pulsato_ made her lose her balance while trying to avoid it. _Adepto_ caused her to be pulled towards Harry and _Fundo Sucnecto_ petrified and bound her with iron chains before she had a chance to protect herself. An ordinary _Accio_ spell did not have the power to summon a witch and so he had to use _Adepto_. He cast _Altefy_ because he did not know the limitation of wandless magic that Daphne used. She might still be able to cast spells even when petrified and bound. She crashed face first onto the floor.

The duel was over and Harry had won.

Luna had watched the exciting duel eagerly. She had known Harry was a god dueler but this was incredible. She noted the use of Runes by Blaise in combat which she didn't even know was possible. She also noted the wandless magic of Daphne. She had thought that all the natural wandless magic users had died out. The moment Harry crashed into the wall due to wandless spell of Daphne; she knew that the momentum of the duel changed. Harry's posture changed and he prowled towards them like a hunter stalking its prey. The spells Harry used then were very powerful and Luna guessed that they were all Battle Magic spells from the Black family books that he was studying. The effects of the spells were impressive. She never knew that Harry was so well versed at offensive spells. He did not call out his spells at all and his wand movements were very limited.

She was learning how to do this but Harry was on a whole new different level. She knew she had to improve to be useful to Harry in a battle.

Harry turned to Luna and said sheepishly "Luna, I think I overdid it a bit. Do you by chance know any healing spells?"

Luna shook her head regretfully "No Harry I don't. They might be okay if it is only bruises."

"Let us check, shall we?" he said and undid the spells on Daphne and Blaise. He had to use _Emanio_ to awaken them as it was the counter to _Altefy_. Then he cancelled the binds on Daphne using _Desino_, a Battle Magic cancellation spell like _Finite_, only much stronger.

They both got up shakily. They were confused for a second and then they turned to glare at Harry.

Harry held up his hands and protested "Hey don't look at me that way. You were the one who wanted the duel."

Blaise glare turned into a smirk "I told Daph that you could take us. But I never expected the duel to be so short. Nice going Potter."

"I don't duel Blaise, I fight. There is a difference" Harry told him smugly.

Daphne just scowled "You countered my wandless magic too easily. Even if you knew about it beforehand as Blaise told me, it should not have been that easy. And I didn't see you use any. How did you defeat us Potter? I could not make out the spells you were using."

"I will tell you later. Do you want any medical attention?" Harry asked a bit nervously. He didn't really want to take them to Auntie P. But if he had no choice, it would be a good chance to really ask her to join him. He needed a healer on his side and as far as he had observed, Auntie P was the best.

"Yes. I think I have a broken wrist and a twisted ankle Potter. I doubt Daphne is any better" Blaise answered.

Daphne grimaced as though she had just discovered pain "Yes. I think I have dislocated my shoulder as I fell. Neither of us can do required spells. Can either Luna or you do it Potter?"

Harry apologized "Sorry about that. But we don't know the spells." Then he sighed deeply and told them all "I really didn't have to do this, but I will take you all to Madam Pomfrey."

Daphne snapped "We can't go through the corridors like this. We are all dirty. We have an image to uphold."

Harry waved her off "Don't be so vain. You won't be seen at all. I will get you there using what I did to get Luna here. Give me a minute"

He used his wand to undo the spells on the room and the door. Then he pulled out the Marauder's Map from his pocket which he kept with him at all times.

He heard Blaise ask "How will you do that?"

Luna answered "He can explain everything to you in detail later. Let us just get you healed first. Don't be too surprised at what you see."

Harry had checked the Map and saw that Auntie P was in her office and that no one was nearby. He cleared the Map and pocketed it again.

He addressed them "Alright. The area is clear. I will take you all one by one, Blaise you first."

Blaise came to him gingerly since his ankle was twisted. Harry put a hand on his shoulder and a split second later, Slid to a few feet in front of the door to the hospital wing. As expected, Blaise stumbled forward. Harry steadied him and knocked on the doors.

"Auntie P" he called out.

"Auntie P?" Blaise asked curiously.

"She was trained by my grandmother" Harry said as he heard the doors open.

Pomfrey was walking towards him with a scowl on her face "Get in. Got in a fight did you? As if your visits weren't enough."

Harry guided Blaise in and answered cheekily "You know you love me."

"Hmmph… What happened this time?" she asked snappily.

"Nothing" Harry started innocently "Blaise Zabini here and Daphne Greengrass decided to test me if I was as good a dueler that everyone thought I was. Fortunately for me, I proved to be better than what they thought. So this time, you only have to mend them and not me."

"Oh… what shall I do with you?" she asked rhetorically before ordering Zabini "Lay down on the bed so that I can see what is wrong with you."

Blaise did as was told. Her voice brokered nothing else.

Before she could start her spells, Harry told her grinning mischievously "Auntie P, I will be back with Daphne shortly" and Slid out in front of her eyes.

He appeared in front of Daphne and Luna who were talking.

"You had better tell me how you do that Potter" Daphne told him waspishly.

Harry bowed to her exaggeratedly "Your wish is my command my lady. May I have the honor of escorting you to the medical wing this glorious night?"

Harry saw that Luna was giggling.

Daphne came and held out her hand to him. He ignored the hand and pulled her into his arms in a loose embrace taking care to not jostle her injured shoulder too much. He called out to Luna before he left "I will be back for you soon."

He Slid back to see Auntie P had dropped her wand was looking at him with wide eyes.

But Daphne freed herself out of his arms by elbowing him roughly in the side "Don't you dare do that to me again Potter."

"Why ever not Daph, I though you liked me. In fact, you have agreed to a date with me" Harry replied.

"That does not…" Whatever she was going to say was cut off by Auntie P.

"Harry, tell me what is going on… NOW" she shouted.

"There is just one more person I need to get Auntie P and then I will explain everything" Harry said as he Slid out.

He appeared in front of Luna and told her "Why don't we take up something to drink? They will need it."

She nodded and hugged him. He Slid them to the Chamber and picked up a few bottles of butterbeer and his last bottle of firewhiskey.

He Slid them back to the hospital wing. The door was closed and Daphne was laid down on a bed next to Blaise. Auntie P had picked up her wand and was scanning Blaise with spells.

Without turning to look at him, Auntie P ordered "You will tell me everything after I have healed these two."

Harry just nodded and warded the doors with silencing and impenetrable charms. He also put silencing charms on the walls for good measure.

He and Luna watched silently as Auntie P healed Blaise first and then Daphne. A few spells and a potion to each of them did the job.

Then he proceeded to explain in brief about most of the things. He told them of Dumbledore's manipulations over the years which garnered him skeptical but accepting looks. The he told them that he was forming his own side in the war. He told them a little of what he had been up to. The part about the Chamber of Secrets and Battle Magic got exclamations of disbelief but he continued. He didn't tell them what he learnt in detail but just that he did. Then he told them that what he used to travel was called Sliding and that it was the next form of Apparation. He promised to get them together and explain everything in detail soon when they persisted for more information.

Blaise, Daphne and Auntie P were shocked with the information.

Before they could start with the questions again, Luna got up and produced a scroll from her robes. "I think all three of you need to sign this."

Harry asked her before they could "What is that?"

"Just a contract for keeping your secrets" she answered calmly, "but the effects of breaking will be far more severe than the DA contract."

"What about you?" Auntie P asked.

"I will if Harry asks me to. But I don't really need to since I gave him my Witch's Pledge" Luna answered serenely.

"Are you daft girl?" Auntie P exploded, "I know that Harry is a good lad but a Pledge?"

"I trust him and he has never misused it" Luna replied.

Harry interrupted sheepishly "I didn't really know about it then Auntie P. I promise I won't abuse it. Also, I forgot to ask you if you will help me?" he asked hesitantly.

Auntie P rolled her eyes at him and said "Of course I will brat. You think I would let you do this alone after what your grandparents have done for me? Besides, I know you. You will get yourself into enough scrapes that you will need my healing all the time."

She turned to Luna and asked briskly "Give me that scroll." She then summoned a quill and inkpot from her office. She signed the scroll and handed it to Blaise.

Blaise and Daphne signed it mutely, still not out of their daze. They had not expected the familiarity between Madam Pomfrey and Harry nor had they expected the revelations that Harry had rocked them with.

Harry enlarged the bottles and conjured glasses for all of them. "Now let us celebrate you all agreeing to help me" he said smiling.

They all agreed even though Daphne and Blaise were not out of their stupor yet. A drink would help them relax.

XXXX

A few days later (more like three); Harry got another Gringotts owl telling him that all of his properties in Knockturn Alley were sold. Only a few of them had to await payments from the buyers for a few weeks. Unfortunately, Dumbledore was present and he saw it.

So, it was not a surprise when he was summoned to Dumbledore's office. After the usual pleasantries, Dumbledore asked "Harry, might I inquire why Gringotts in contacting you?"

Harry felt the light probe of Legilimency and answered a half truth "They are sending me updates on something I asked them to do sir. It is something I wanted to do for a while and didn't know how to do it." He purposefully remembered how poor Weasleys were and the times when they bought second hand things. He felt the probes recede after seeing those images. Dumbledore believed that he was looking into helping the Weasleys financially. Harry was thankful that he had prepared for this questioning since he leant that Gringotts mail was not checked by whoever was monitoring all mails into and out of the castle.

Dumbledore eyes brightened and he asked delicately "Is there anything I can help you out with dear boy? I might be able to clear up any obstacles you might encounter."

"No thank you sir. It is almost done and the goblins said that they could handle it" Harry replied politely.

"Very well Harry" Dumbledore said graciously.

"Sir?" Harry ventured hesitantly "Can we have another lesson now?"

Dumbledore sighed "Alas my boy, we need Slughorn's true memory to continue. Have you obtained it per chance?"

"No sir. I have tried but he shuts off the subject sir" Harry answered.

"Please hurry Harry. There is a lot to show you but they might not make sense until we view the actual memory" Dumbledore told him.

"Yes sir" Harry parroted.

"Contact me as you as you have it Harry" Dumbledore said.

Recognizing the dismissal, Harry left happily. He had avoided Dumbledore again but he had not yet obtained the memory. He would have to do something about it soon.

Later in the evening, Luna told him that she had received mail from Remus. It said tomorrow at 9 PM.

Harry had not explained everything in detail to Daphne, Blaise and Auntie P yet. He had also not shown them the Chamber. He decided to explain and show them all together with Remus.

**A/N**: Thank you all for the reviews. I appreciate all kinds of reviews that I have encountered.


	11. A Team

**Chapter 11: A Team**

**A/N:** Sorry for taking so long. But fear not, from now on, the updates will be regular.

The next day, during the Potions class, Harry dropped off a note in Blaise's lap as he walked near him to collect ingredients. The note said

_Room, 9:30 today_

Short and to the point. He had decided to take them to the Chamber along with Remus today.

While going to lunch, he approached Luna in the corridor and asked her to meet him at 9:30 near the statue that hid the secret tunnel to Hogsmeade. It was a spot that no one frequented.

Just before dinner, Harry went to Auntie P and told her to be in her office at 9:30 and lock the door.

He would meet Remus at 9 at the Three Broomsticks. He could sneak Remus into the chamber using the Honeydukes tunnel.

At 8:30, Harry prepared to leave for Hogsmeade. He needed more liquor to get sloshed with Dean and Seamus later to get information about what was happening to Ginny. He could get it from Rosie or rather Madam Rosmerta. So, he applied a minor glamour charm on his face that tanned his skin a bit and he used his hair to hide his scar. Then he charmed his glasses to be a light blue shade which would give his eyes an aquamarine green color rather than a striking emerald green. This was also the disguise that Rosie knew. This was actually a very sloppy disguise he had devised months ago but it was enough for now.

He confirmed using the Marauder's Map that no one was there near the statue of the One eyed witch that guarded the entrance to the secret passage to Honeydukes. He Slid there taking a step or two to balance himself. He had still not been able to simply land in a place while Sliding.

He uttered the password, _Dissendium_ and quickly stepped through the opening.

To make his journey easier, he lit the torches along the tunnel until the last 50 metres to the cellar of Honeydukes.

Harry was pretty sure that there were no wards at Hogsmeade. Since he was out of the scope of Hogwarts wards, he should be able to apparate to the Three Broomsticks.

He thought of the entrance to the Three Broomsticks and prepared to apparate there.

But he had to quickly Teleport rather than apparate because he had not taken into account the wards on Honeydukes. He would have been severely splinched or broken through the wards of Honeydukes, both of which would have been disastrous. He didn't feel as drained as he felt when he had tried at the Burrow. It meant that the wards on Honeydukes were weaker compared to the Burrow. This trip was also a bit longer in distance compared to what he practiced at the Burrow. He decided that this was a good place to start refining his Teleportation technique. He could try for longer distances to check out his limits and practice to get his body used to Teleportation.

He let out a sigh of relief and entered the Three Broomsticks. There were a few people enjoying their drinks and a few eating their meals. He saw Rosie serving one of the tables. He made his way to the counter and waited for her to return.

As soon as she spotted him, she wore a bright smile and headed for him. "Hello there young man. Lovely to see you dearie."

Harry couldn't suppress a smile at seeing the voluptuous but friendly barmaid. "Absolutely wonderful to see you dear Rosie. Your company is all that was lacking this fine evening" he greeted her disarmingly.

Rosie smacked him lightly on his hand and said "You rogue, always looking to charm me out of my knickers."

This was a little game they played. When he would visit her, she would flirt with him and he would flirt back. There was often a double entrée or outright propositions in their talks.

Harry mock sighed and replied "Alas! I could only hope to keep up with you Rosie. I am but an innocent young man."

She laughed and said "You are anything but a 'little' young man, dearie. What can 'I' do for you?" The emphasis on certain words was not lost on Harry.

"You can do 'many things' for me but for now, I need a room" Harry responded cheekily.

"My, my, have you come this far? Who may I ask is your guest? Am I not good enough 'company'?" she asked wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

This time, Harry laughed freely, letting their flirting episode end. "Nothing like that Rosie, I just want to meet Remus."

She too understood the end of their ritual session. "Ah Remus, the one from your father's group of rascals? I have one in the second floor near the end of the corridor. Will that do dearie?"

"Sure. Could you send up Remus when he gets here?" Harry asked.

"No problem dearie" she answered smiling.

"One more thing. Can I have half a dozen bottles of Firewhiskey, muggle Vodka, muggle Whiskey each and a case of butterbeer packed when I have to go?" he asked nicely.

"I should be telling you not to drink so much at such a young age but I need your business and I know you take care of yourself. Those muscles you have are a proof of that… I will have them ready for you when you have to return to Hogwarts" she told him smiling gently at him.

"Thank you Rosie" he said and kissed her cheek before making his way upstairs.

Harry took a chair in the room and prepared himself to wait for a few minutes since it was not yet 9 PM. He dropped his disguise and awaited Remus.

Hardly five minutes later, he heard a knock. "Come on in" he called out.

Remus entered the room looking a little worse for wear but better than the last time he had seen him. The full moon was two weeks ago and it was a relatively best time for him.

Harry went ahead and shook him arm heartily "Remus! Punctual as always."

"I did learn a thing or two when I was a professor you know" he quipped laughing lightly.

"So did I for a change" Harry replied chuckling.

Harry pulled out his wand and put an impenetrable and silencing charm on the room. He had remembered to wear his magic masking bracelet today. They both took seats facing each other on the chairs. They left the bed alone as they didn't need it.

"Good to see you Harry. How is school?" Remus started.

"School is interesting right now Remus. Classes are boring but there are more things to do in school as you very well know" Harry replied.

"I heard you witnessed Miss Bell's attack. Any update on her condition Harry?" Remus asked gently.

Harry sighed and answered "She was one of my 'companions' you know. Dumbledore says there is not much change in her condition. I am going to disembowel the bastard that did this to her."

Remus put his hand on Harry's shoulder to pacify him. "I understand Harry. The Order is more alert in Hogsmeade on Hogsmeade weekends to prevent such incidents again. What is it that you can tell me Harry? Will you fill me in on the things you said at the Burrow?" he asked.

"Yes Remus. I have obtained a few other friends and your letter was right on time. This way, I can explain to all of you at once" Harry replied.

"Are they all trustworthy Harry? If I have any indication of what you have planned, it would be dangerous for you if information got out" Remus asked carefully, not wanting to anger the teen in front of him.

Harry grinned and replied "One of my friends thought of it beforehand and had prepared a Contract of Silence. All of them have signed it Remus."

"Just making sure. Where will we be meeting? Here?" Remus asked.

"No Remus. It is time I took you to my secret hideout. Marauders had the Shrieking Shack and I have one better" Harry bragged.

"Sure Cub, you can dream" Remus teased.

"If you have not changed your opinion by the end of today's meeting, I will eat my words. By the way, why do you call me Cub?" Harry asked curiously.

Remus smiled sadly and answered "All the Marauders had a name for you. It had to do with animagus forms and my werewolf nature. I called you Cub, a wolf's child. Sirius called you Pup, a dog's child. James called you Prongslet, not exactly the child of deer, but more intended towards the child of Prongs." Remus had conveniently excluded Peter and Harry couldn't blame him.

"Nice" Harry agreed dully. It always hurt him a little to be reminded of Sirius and his parents but he was always hungry fro more information of them.

Remus shook his head and asked brightly to dispel the melancholy mood "Where are we meeting?"

Harry grinned weakly and said "Follow me."

Harry redid the glamour and the charm on his glasses. He undid the charms on the room and walked downstairs.

He approached Rosie who was at the counter and asked "Is my baggage ready Rosie?"

"Oh done already? Here" she gave him a bag, "I have also put in a bit of Shepard's pie. I know you love it."

Harry smiled fully "Thanks Rosie. You are the greatest."

He accepted the bag, paid her and kissed her cheek before departing. Remus also thanked her politely and followed Harry.

Outside, Remus asked Harry suggestively "You seem to be getting on with madam Rosmerta far better than we Marauders did."

"All part of the charm old man which you didn't have" Harry replied impudently.

Harry led him to a spot few feet further while Remus protested "Hey! I am not that old!"

Harry grabbed Remus's arm and replied "Sure you are."

He teleported them to the tunnel below Honeydukes cellar. It was the same place he had departed from. It was definitely more draining teleporting with another person. He took a few deep breaths to compose himself. He was just glad that they made it in one piece.

Remus for his part did not feel the impression of traveling though a compressed tube associated with Apparation. But he guessed that the distance might have been to less to matter. "You can apparate?" he all but shrieked due to shock but had to follow Harry as he moved through the passage they were in.

"Old man, you need to calm down. This is the least of surprises you will face today. I don't want you to get a heart attack. For your information, that was not apparation. And no, I won't tell you what that is until we are all together" Harry said in a mock superior voice.

Remus resisted the impulse to pester Harry with questions but asked one question anyway. "Where are we?"

"Secret passage below Honeydukes" Harry replied.

Remus couldn't resist the pull of curiosity "I thought this was covered by Hogwarts' wards."

"Maybe they are or maybe they are not" Harry said mysteriously and remarked "You know what they say about nosey people don't you Remus? Curiosity killed the cat."

Remus replied mock pompously "I will have you know sir that I am no cat. I am the wily wolf."

Harry chucked as he walked "I knew there was a Marauder hidden inside that ever polite persona. But come on Remus, you can contain you curiosity for a while."

Remus laughed and acquiesced "Okay Cub."

They walked in silence and reached within sight of the statue of the one eyed witch. Harry stopped Remus from going further and told him "I know what I am about to do is supposedly impossible, but please calm yourself. As I said I don't want you to have a heart attack."

Harry had not led him through the statue where Luna was probably waiting. He wanted to surprise Remus and he was also not sure he was not ready to try Sliding with two people together with him simultaneously.

Remus took a few deep breaths to steady himself to face another shock that Harry was about to give him. "Okay ready now" he said.

Harry took his arm again and Slid to the outer part of the Chamber of Secrets. This was the place where the hole from Myrtle's bathroom ended. Remus stumbled and made both of them fall to their hands and knees.

"Make yourself useful and conjure some lights till I get others Remus" Harry told him and Slid back to the tunnel behind the statue.

He pulled out the Map and verified that no one was present beyond the statue other than Luna. He opened the state with the same password, _Dissendium_ and walked out to meet an unsurprised Luna.

"I am guessing this is one of the passages to Hogsmeade you hinted previously" she stated flatly.

"Very good Luna. I never could pull one over you ever since we talked about Black family magic" Harry said agreeably and asked, "Are you ready?"

"Sure Harry" she said and held out her hand.

Harry took her hand and Slid in front of Remus. He barely stopped to make out a few floating lights and an exclamation from Remus "Miss Lovegood" before he Slid to the room in the dungeons. He was sure that no one apart from them knew about the room and it was probably safe.

He was greeted by the dry tone of Blaise "You have yet to tell us how you do that. I hope it is time for explanations."

"Happy to see you too mate" Harry said in an equally dry tone. He turned to Daphne and told her charmingly "Beautiful as ever Daph."

"Don't call me that" she snapped but he caught the pink cheeks.

"Are you both ready to tour the super secret Chamber of Secrets?" he asked in the best childish voice he could muster.

Blaise rolled his eyes "You do know you are asking a couple of Slytherin students don't you?"

"Yeah yeah. It must have been eating you inside to wait four whole days" Harry commented sardonically.

"Get on with it already Potter" Daphne said sharply but he could see the excitement in her eyes.

"Anything you say Daph" Harry told her before grabbing her in a hug and Sliding to the outer part of the Chamber again.

Daphne pushed him away causing his to lose his precarious balance from Sliding. He fell down on his butt.

"You insolent pervert. Always too eager to lay your hands on me" Daphne shouted at him. But Harry noticed something. There was no bark in her tone and her eyes did not glare at him.

'Yes!' he thought exuberantly, "She is softening up on me."

Remus again ruined the moment by yelling incredulously "Miss Greengrass." The pause in recognition was probably due to the passage of a couple of years since he last saw her.

Harry got up to his feet gingerly and scowled good naturedly at Luna who was giggling at him "Just you wait missy. You will get yours one day."

He didn't wait for a response and Slid away to meet Blaise. He had his hand out and was waiting for him.

Harry accepted his hand and pouted childishly "You have a very meanie cousin."

Blaise just laughed as Harry Slid back to the chamber.

Unfortunately for them, Daphne had not moved. They both took a step forward due to Sliding and crashed into her in a pile of limbs.

Harry groaned as he was helped up by Luna. Remus helped Daphne while Blaise got up himself.

"This time, please clear the area" Harry told them before Sliding back to the room in the dungeons.

He wanted to check the map before Sliding to the hospital wing. One can never know if there was an idiot who had hurt himself today.

There was one patient today. A dot marked "Zacharias Smith" was visible near the door to the infirmary. This was the bed farthest from her office. He also saw the dot marked "Poppy Pomfrey" in her office.

He Slid directly into her office in front of the closed door facing the desk. Auntie P was sitting on the desk waiting for him.

"It still gives me a shock even when I expected you to arrive this way. And don't worry about Smith. He is asleep and will remain so until tomorrow morning" she told him.

"Arrogant windbag deserves worse" Harry muttered but was heard by Auntie P.

She laughed and agreed "Yes. That snot was demanding to know what each and every spell I performed on him was. For just a few bruises from tripping into a suit of Armor, he sure made quite a fuss."

He Slid them to the Chamber and this time, he gripped her tightly so that she would not fall down. They were met with another exclamation from Remus "Madam Pomfrey!"

"No need to be so surprised young man, you should know I would never refuse Harry after what his grandparents did for me" Auntie P chided him gently.

Remus answered her sheepishly "Sorry. James had talked about it but I had forgotten."

"Alright people" Harry called loudly to gain their attention and started to walk towards the Chamber entrance. "We are now in the outer part of the Chamber of Secrets once belonging to the ape called Salazar Slytherin. This is where you land when you take the official entrance from the second floor girl's bathroom now occupied by Moaning Myrtle. ('Bathroom!' 'Weeping Mrtyle') Yes… yes… a bathroom. Unbelievable but true. Now, be thankful that I have cleaned up here. When I came here in my second year, this place was full of rat bones and snake skin. A bit further and we will reach the door to the real Chamber of Secrets" he finished brightly like a tour conductor.

"When did you actually start coming here regularly?" Remus asked curiously.

"Since fourth year" Harry answered.

"Err Harry" Remus started hesitantly, "But I thought Ron and Hermione were your best friends. I thought they would be here. I also kind of expected more of your 'ministry crew', Neville or Ginny."

Harry just laughed and said "Hogwarts has taken this year to prove that teenagers have hormonal issues. Unfortunately, Ron and Hermione seem to be leading the rest of the students in this regard. Ron is busy with his precious Lavender and Hermione with her books and her unrequited obsession with Ron. God I wish those two would just get on with it. Practically the whole school knows they fancy each other."

"Even Slytherins noticed that Potter" Blaise quipped as the rest laughed.

"As for Neville, he is acting a bit strange this year. I had thought he would have grown a backbone due to last year but he is almost invisible this year. Ginny… well, I think there is something wring with her. She was all friendly with me during the summer and Christmas but in school, she acts kind of distant. I wonder how she can withstand the Potter charm" he finished contemplatively.

Luna reached out and gave him a shove "Get over yourself."

Harry chose to ignore her as they came upon the serpentine door. It looked like a thick, sturdy metal door having a circular shape. Numerous snakes were entwined on the door. It looked creepy in the low light that Remus had conjured.

"This is the real entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. Beyond this door lies the hall of Serpents" Harry explained.

Harry hissed _**"Open up"**_ in Parseltongue. The two snakes on the outer most circle on the door uncoiled and the door swung open.

Harry walked in just as Daphne screamed in fear. There were also yelps from Remus and Auntie P and a "Fuck" from Blaise.

Harry looked back at them in confusion. Blaise stammered "Ba… Ba… Basilisk" he said pointing inside.

Harry turned around again and noticed the large form of the Basilisk lying dead in the middle of the hall. He had been here so frequently that he had forgotten about it.

Harry failed to smother his laughter as he explained "It is dead. I killed it in my second year. Sorry I didn't warn you. I had forgotten about it."

"You killed THAT monster in your second year?" Remus asked incredulously.

"Yes. Did quite well for a 12 year old don't you think?" Harry asked cheekily.

"Are you out of your mind Potter?" Daphne snapped. "This basilisk is at least fifty feet long and probably one of the largest of this time. No sane wizard would wish to tangle with it. And you were bleeding 12 years old. You… are… insane."

Harry just shrugged sheepishly. _**"Lightsss"**_ he hissed again and the hidden torches in the hall lit up. There were statues of vipers along either side of the long hall. There was a puddle of water from a leak that Harry had fixed previously. The long body of the basilisk was lying in the middle of the hall with its eyes gouged out. There was no evidence of his blood from when he was bitten by the basilisk as he had cleaned it up before. The face of Salazar Slytherin stood prominently at the end of the hall.

Harry made a grand sweeping gesture and said "This, ladies and gentlemen, is the Hall of Serpents. It is called due to the snake statues on either side as you can see. The ape like face over there is Salazar Slytherin himself, the dark wizard extraordinaire."

"Doesn't look good on us, does it?" Blaise asked Daphne.

Daphne frowned and agreed "I expected better from a founder."

Harry interjected "Oh it does get better from now on. Follow me." He walked towards the middle of the hall where the Basilisk's head rested.

Auntie P asked curiously "Harry, why is the corpse not rotten yet? The venom of the basilisk should have decomposed its dead body long ago. It is one of the reason why basilisk body parts are so rare and valuable. Also, there is not a speck of dirt or dampness anywhere in the hall." Being a mediwitch, she had noticed the state of the corpse.

"That is due to the extremely powerful preservation charms on all parts of the chamber. I did not have to clean anything apart from the outer chamber at all. Even the books and potion ingredients are in perfect condition" Harry answered her.

"At least he was powerful" Daphne commented who was still disappointed by the founder of her house.

Harry had reached the arch on the right side in the middle of the hall. He had not noticed this in his second year while running about escaping from the basilisk. He had found this arch while examining the Chamber with lights on in his fourth year. It was opened by an offering of blood. Harry had found the tunnels on the other side and examined this side in detail thinking that something was there and he found the arch. He did wonder why Voldemort had not found the arch. They were able to see a long corridor with doors on either side of the corridor through the arch.

"This corridor leads to numerous rooms. The other side of the hall has an entrance to the tunnels through which the basilisk used to move about in the school." He walked forward as he explained "There are many kinds of rooms – a library, a potions lab, a couple of ritual rooms, a large dueling chamber, an armory, a few bedrooms and such. You can explore them all at your leisure later. Let us go somewhere to talk."

He led them to the bedroom where he had stored his things as he explained further "Slytherin had a fantastic collection of books. There are books as old as 2500 years old in the library. There are books on many subjects but primarily Dark Magic, Potions, Ritual Magic, Mind Arts and some obscure branches of magic of olden times. I have not yet gone through the whole library yet but surprisingly, there are no books written in Parseltongue. I half expected him to have invented the written form of Parseltongue to write his secret research and such."

He opened the door to the bedroom. The room was pretty large. The décor was green and silver of varying shades. There was a sitting area with dark green seating. The bed was a king size bed composed of a mixture or pale green and dark silver. The hangings and screens were pure silver in color. The handles to the shelves and cupboards had a coiled snake engraving. The whole room was carpeted in forest green colors. There was also a door that led to the bathroom and one that let to the closet.

"Now this is more like it" Blaise said with appreciation.

Harry bade them to sit in the sitting area. There was a mahogany short table in the middle of the chairs and sofas. He hissed _**"Lightsss"**_ and the torches in the room lit up on command.

"The explanations will take a long time. So, how about a drink?" Harry offered.

Auntie P said eagerly "I could do with one of your Relaxers."

"What is that?" Blaise asked curiously.

"You will love it. Try it" Auntie P told him.

"Butterbeer for me Harry" Luna told him.

Harry summoned a butterbeer for Luna and handed it to her. He conjured glasses for others and summoned the drinks needed for preparing the Relaxer. He mixed them up and handed them over to all of them. Even he took a Relaxer instead of a hard drink tonight.

"This is great" Remus complimented him which was chorused by the others.

"Okay…" Harry began and proceeded to tell them everything. He first started with his life at the Dursleys. He did not go into detail but told them that he was belittled and treated like a slave there. Then he explained the events concerning his introduction to the wizarding world. He continued with the events of his school years in detail. He explained each and every clue he got and the things he did personally in terms of training. He also commented that Voldemort had thankfully not found this horde of knowledge or he could be almost unstoppable.

He was berated by Remus when he confirmed doing rituals. He then gave a short explanation on rituals "Rituals are not totally dark magic Remus. They are like spells. They can be used as dark magic. Rituals can achieve permanent results that can be temporarily achieved by potions and spells. There are so many things you can achieve by rituals – strength, speed, faster comprehension, animagus, creature speak, resistance to curses etc. There are many components of a ritual – Alchemy, Chants, Runes, in some cases sacrifices and depending on the ritual many other things. Runes contain the magic and direct it. The potion component enhances the effect or inhibits some undesired side effects. The chants are used to activate and 'run' the ritual. The sacrificial component, if any, provides the extra power for the ritual. Some, like animagus rituals, are fairly simple and only consist of a potion, runes drawn in user's blood and a few chants. It causes pain but had no side effects or loss of body parts or sacrifices."

"Of course there are rituals that require sacrifices from the users own body or other victims. The ritual to gain resistance to curses is one such example. It can be considered 'dark' since it makes the user more susceptible to dark arts influence. There are also extremely ugly rituals that require human sacrifices for increasing a wizard's magical core. Voldemort is rumored to have performed numerous such rituals to improve his body. It deforms the mind and body of the wizard. The complexity of the rituals increase with the benefits and the side effects also increase with the complexity. The slightest of errors while performing the ritual can result in death or incapacitation. Rituals are dangerous, true but some are worth the small amount of danger."

When Blaise asked about why he was so prejudiced against the dark arts and commented about his similarity of view of the Ministry, Harry replied gravely "The ministry considers anything powerful as dark magic. They classify Battle Magic, all rituals, some powerful potions, mind arts and other branches of magic as Dark arts. Dark arts only refer to spells and other magic cast on a person like rituals that include a negative emotional part. The true dark arts are designed to make the user yearn for such emotions again – jealousy, hatred, loathing, desolate fear, bitterness and such. The allure is too much for a wizard to resist. They also cause extreme harm to the victim usually. That is not to say that true dark arts are evil. There have been the rare true dark wizards who have worked to help others. I know I won't be able to overcome the allure of the dark arts and that is why I have never touched the dark arts except on a couple of occasions which I will not tell you about."

They accepted that but they were confused what Battle Magic actually was. He explained to them to the best of his knowledge. "Battle Magic has one purpose – destruction. I do not have the entirety of the knowledge of the Blacks, so I can only tell you what I know and guess. I guess there are different levels of Battle Magic. The books I studied from are geared towards small scale destruction. Most of them in the books are designed to inflict incapacitating wounds and capture. The most important concept of the Black family Battle Magic is Focus casting. It has no wand movements or long incantations that need to be said out loud. You actually don't even need a wand. The spells are cast by any magical focus and your mental command. A mental impression or a specific thought or a word, usually the name of the spell is the trigger for the spells when you are channeling the magic. Otherwise for everything you have while performing a spell, a few more spells should shoot out of your magical focus."

"The spells I have encountered until now are powerful generic variations of offensive curses. Take for example the cutting spell, _Diffindo_. This spell only causes shallow cut on a human body. Its Battle Magic variant is called _Lacerous_. This spell cuts to the bone. There is also the _Petrificus_, which petrifies the victim based on the concentration of the caster. You can either petrify the part of the body the curse hits or the whole body with the same spell defined by your intent while casting the spell. That is why high mental fortitude is required. The spells also require more power. But power and fortitude of the mind is a good tradeoff for effectiveness of the curse and there is no need to learn all the variations of the curse. Modern spells have variations for everything. You have _Mobilicorpus_ to carry a body and a different _Mobili-_ to carry a boulder. In such case, you can even use the variations of the _Leviosa_ spell. Simply put, there are too many modern spells to perform the same action in varying effectiveness."

"But from the book written by Septimus Smith, we know that Battle Magic is much more than that. I learnt from the goblins that Maurius Black stored away a lot of wealth and most of the knowledge of the Battle Magic somewhere. Battle Magic is much more destructive than the simple spells I have learnt. I can take out a few people sure, but I can't go against an army. Older Battlemages were rumored to be able to take on legions of wizards without much trouble."

"What do you intend to do now Potter? What are your plans? I am not about to go half cocked like a Gryffindor into anything. And I am also not going to simply follow your orders" Blaise asked.

"A fair question" Harry conceded. "I did not actually expect you to join me. I do not want to impose my will on you all. I do not want to be like Dumbledore or Voldemort whose minions follow them mindlessly. I want comrades not followers. I want you all to take part in making decisions. I may be a good fighter but I do not have knowledge in all fields. We also require an adult's perspective. We also need to look at it from the pureblood point of you. This is where you all come in. The decisions we make will be done as a group but I want to keep this group small otherwise we will waste time just debating on what to do."

"As for what we will actually do, I want to take the war to Voldemort." Here Harry was pleased to see that no one flinched at the name. "The ministry is useless. Dumbledore runs a group called the Order of the Phoenix. They are a mostly reactive group. They gather intelligence and rarely get to fight death eaters. They are stalling Voldemort until I am able to kill him." Ignoring the Whys, he continued "There was a prophecy made about me and Voldemort that says that either I have to kill him or he will kill me. Dumbledore knows this prophecy and that is why he is trying to stall Voldemort. Since I am the focal point of this war, I decided to fight the war on my own terms."

"This is what I propose. I want to reduce Voldemort's forces. I know most of you are against killing and it will take a lot of time to be able to kill them. So I want to create a very secure place, preferably under Fidelus where we can keep all the death eaters. We can interrogate the captured ones to get their plans and their numbers. I want to chip away at Voldemort's support little by little. I want connections in the ministry to root out death eaters in the ministry. Then I want to take out the major source of wealth to Voldemort. He cannot run a war without money on fear alone. Then I want to cut out his allies, like giants, dementors etc. I want him to fear me as I take away everything from him piece by piece. Then, in the end, I want to torture the bastard and kill him" he finished vehemently.

Harry had already revealed the prophecy to all of them and this was just an explanation why the war centered around him. Other plans were still in the beginning stages and were subject to change.

The others were moved by his speech, he could see. But Blaise was the shrewdest of them and he asked "Surely you can't be serious Potter! This will take resources, money and people. We do not have any of them."

Harry grinned "That is where you are wrong. I have been working on this. I asked Remus to look into werewolves. They are shunned by the public and Voldemort does not even offer them anything. From what I think, most of them fear Fenrir Greyback, Voldemort's werewolf in charge. If we can get rid of him and offer Wolfsbane potion and a place to transform to them, I think we can rally them. What do you think Remus?"

Remus replied thoughtfully "It is certainly more than what Ministry and Dumbledore have offered to the packs. You are right. Most fear Greyback to even think to stray away. My subtle enquires were met with hope by most werewolves I contacted. Some of them like the bloodshed and destruction like Greyback though. But even then, they will never trust you or join you until Greyback is dead and let me tell you, it is no easy feat to kill Greyback. Scores of auror teams have tried and failed."

"We will have to think on that. We can get rid of him, I just don't know how right now. Maybe something will come up… hmm… maybe" Harry trailed off. He had kept his actual animagus form a secret from them all. He had told them the process but nothing else. He had to keep some secrets after all.

Luna spoke up "You are overlooking another major base for manpower Harry. Do you think that there are only 40 – 45 students that are of age to attend Hogwarts every year? No Harry. Hogwarts tuition is costly and many families cannot afford to send their children to Hogwarts. There are many of them spread all across Britain and Ireland. They are either financially poor or are entrenched in their ways. They can be swayed to our cause if you approach them appropriately. Then there are clans which are totally withdrawn from the society who live on their own. If they admit the danger Voldemort presents, they might join you but they are a doubtful source. Still they are also worth a try."

"And another major manpower source is the muggleborns. How many muggleborns do you think stay in the wizarding world after finishing their studies? You are still in school and may not have seen much but in actuality, there is blatant discrimination of muggleborns. Most of them do not find worthwhile jobs even if they have the skills. Most of them move to the muggle world or move out of the country to a more liberal country like Australia or America. There are brilliant wizards and witches that are lost to magical Britain that you can convince to join us. They know that they are the most likely targets of Voldemort and they know that no one will offer them security. The ministry and Dumbledore do not think about them at all. If you can offer them safety and jobs, they will gladly join you" she finished.

"I am glad that there is a Ravenclaw among us. Even though Blaise here is a bookworm, he can't stand dry research like this. Lovegood is right. There is a lot of potential to both sources" Daphne commented.

This time Auntie P raised a very valid question "War requires a lot of money. If we do gain support from werewolves, muggleborns, clans and the poor families we will need even more money then. Where will we get that kind of wealth? All the sources are pretty much worthless, money wise."

Harry grinned at this. He had expected a question like this from Blaise actually. "I have enough to cover us for a couple of years or so." At their disbelieving looks, he elaborated "I have been named the Black heir. I cannot access the family vault without the family ring that I am to try out on my seventeenth birthday. But the wealth inside the vault is only about 25,000 galleons. I know that the wealth of the Blacks has decreased drastically in the past couple of centuries and everyone knows that. But what no one knows is that Blacks own a lot of property and businesses. They almost own the whole of Knockturn Alley. I can and have sold all the properties though careful dealings with the goblins. They charged a hell lot but they got the job done. This has given me a few million galleons in liquid cash that I have free access to and has dealt a blow to death eaters. Their supplies came from Knockturn Alley and they had to buy it when I gave a warning of closing them down. I tagged the less useful properties and businesses with more essential businesses and had them sold together as a rule. They lost of a lot of ready cash buying them and even if they want to sell them off, no light side family will buy anything in Knockturn Alley."

"A few millions he says" mocked Remus.

"That was a scarily brilliant move Potter" Daphne told him, a faint sense of awe in her voice.

"What about later? There is no guarantee that the war will end soon. What will we do for money then?" Blaise asked again picking up more than what was told.

Harry still grinned smugly when he answered him "I am not planning to ask all of them to simply fight for me. I plan to form enclaves for witches and wizards where they can live peacefully and also produce revenue for us. We can practically form enclaves anywhere, thereby reducing the cost of land. We can set up jobs for them and give support. I understand that not all of them are fighters. They get to do what they like and we get money. We can give them salaries as well. Initially, I had only planned this for werewolves. I thought of forming a colony for them alone. Now, if we get the people Luna mentioned, we can just do everything on a bigger scale. We will not have instant return on most jobs and businesses that arise but by the time two or three years have passed, they will bring in money by the loads. I know this sounds like I am using them or something but I really do want to help them. If it weren't for this war, I would have probably done something to help people after I had sold all the Knockturn Alley property. I can do it now and help us too in the process. Ultimately I dislike the way our world is running right now and this will be the start of a new way for witches and wizards everywhere."

"Harry, that is the kind of awesome business strategy that the Blacks were known for. Are you sure you are a Potter and not a Black?" Auntie P asked him teasingly.

Harry laughed "I am not able to decide really. I am sure there is Black blood in me as Luna tells me there are at least three witches from the Black family who have married in to the Potter family. I can also do the Battle Magic of Black family and I can open books charmed only for the Black family. I guess I do have Black blood in me."

"Hopefully you will turn out better than the recent Lord Blacks" Luna, the historian told him. She was sad to see the decline of such a famous and mysterious family.

"I am sure he will do fine. His ideas alone merit some credit" Remus said supportively.

Harry grinned at the comments and asked a question that was bugging him ever since he went to Gringotts "Remus, why are the Potters so poor. I know they are an old pureblood family. I also know that they were excellent wards and shields creators. Even if they worked for the ministry, they must have made a lot more than 20,000 galleons. I was shocked to see that they had only that much wealth. They did not even have any investments or properties other than a single, mediocre muggle company and Godric's Hollow."

Remus answered him gently "Harry, the Potters were always generous people. They never charged for any of the shields or wards they created. They gave out that knowledge for free. There have been some bad investments over the years by the Potter family but they were not many. No, the main reason that the Potters are so poor, relatively speaking is that the money you saw, 20,000 galleons is only the savings of your grandparents and to a little extent, your parents. This is so because your great grandparents were very involved in the war with Grindelwald. They put the whole Potter fortune into rebuilding the wizarding world after the destruction caused by the magical war. They gave people money to help them live without asking anything back. The major drain was the rebuilding of St. Mungos which was completely destroyed by Grindelwald. That is why the Potters had so little wealth."

"The whole pureblood community was shocked at their blatant charity Potter. Your great grandparents were either revered by people or despised by them due to disregard for wealth" Blaise added.

Harry soaked in the information. He had learnt about his parents from Sirius in what little time he had with him. He had learnt about his grandparents from Auntie P during his weekly visits. Now, he had information about his great grandparents. Potters, it seemed had always been an illustrious family. He had a lot to live up to.

"Now what I need is someone to maintain all of this and keep everything running once I start it all up. I cannot keep track of everything all by myself. We are still students and have a lot to learn. Remus may be an academic but I don't think he is a businessman. Auntie P is an excellent healer and we can't ask her to do it for us. I need a secretary or a fictional head of business" Harry told them.

"You can buy a few house elves to run errands for you" Daphne supplied.

Harry waved that suggestion away "They are dumb and unreliable. If they are given the impression that they are helping their masters, they will do anything they are told. As I have told you, Dobby is a prime example for this. Besides, even if I were to buy them, I would have to keep track of everything. They can run errands but they cannot run everything for me. I have to give them specific orders and everything. I swear, if I do succeed in forming enclaves, I will find a ward and keep all house elves away."

Remus had a flash bulb moment. "Harry… I think I know just the person for the job. Andromeda Tonks. She was a Black previously and she was known to be a genius at running businesses and making money. She has unbelievable organizational capabilities too. How do you think she is doing so well now in both the muggle and wizarding world when she cast out of the Black family without a Knut? Ted Tonks was a muggleborn and he too didn't have much money at all. Also, their daughter might help us. I know she is in the Order but she is disillusioned after the death of Sirius. Given a chance, I think we can have the support of the whole Tonks family."

"Oh Yes I remember her. She was a true genius Harry. If she were not playing nice at Hogwarts, I shudder to think of how many students she would have robbed blind" Auntie P told him.

"Okay Remus, have them meet us sometime next week together as a family. Tonks looked a bit out of it when I saw her last. Maybe this will give her a new focus" Harry said after thinking a while.

"Potter, our parents too have expressed their desire to meet you?" Daphne told him.

"Hmm… I do wonder if they want to talk about our betrothal" Harry commented amusedly.

Daphne flushed pink and sputtered indignantly "Betrothal… Are you bloody insane… not even dated yet… betrothal… hah"

"But you wish for it, isn't it so Daph?" Blaise asked with a smirk.

"NO!" Daphne shouted vehemently.

"Why not Daphne? Am I not good enough for you?" Harry asked with puppy dog eyes.

"Boys, don't tease the poor girl like that" Auntie P scolded them but she finished grinning "She has yet to accept it in her mind."

Laughter rung out from all of them and Daphne blushed deeply. All of them it was enough war talk for the day. They talked on mundane things for a while before dispersing. Harry took them all out of the Chamber and promised to meet Daphne and Blaise every night to bring them back to the Chamber. They wanted to use the many facilities available to improve their knowledge and skills. Remus departed after promising to give him dated to duel with Harry. Auntie P told him she would request some time

XXXX

The next day was Saturday. Harry decided to hold a meeting again in the Chamber, this time for only those in school. Luna had informed Blaise and Daphne. Harry informed Auntie P. Again, Harry did the chore of collecting everyone.

Finally they were all seated in the bedroom's sitting area. Harry made a note to himself to prepare a meeting room from one of the many empty rooms in the Chamber.

"Harry, this will be tedious. We have to setup some other way to travel to the Chamber. I think all of us want to come to the Chamber daily. The resources here are simply too good to pass up" Luna told him.

"I will try but I don't know what else to do. I suppose I can keep the entrance in Myrtle's bathroom open and put an illusion over it but it is too risky. Till someone can come up with an idea, we have to keep doing this" he replied.

"What did you call me here for today Harry?" Auntie P asked.

"I thought you might want to look up something for Katie in the Chamber's library. You did say that her recovery was not going so well" he told her.

"Yes, I can do that" Auntie P said thoughtfully.

"I also wanted to know everyone's strengths. Then, we can focus on our strengths and then improve other aspects. We might get something in the library about some of our major affinities that can help us further" Harry told them.

"Well, I will go first then," Blaise said. "I have major affinity in Runes and Mind Arts. I was trained by my mother in the Mind Arts since the age of ten. That is why I am so proficient at it. I think everyone knows that that means I am good at Occlumency and Legilimency. Not to the level of Dumbledore, but enough to defend against Snape. I might have minor affinity in Potions but I am not sure."

Luna went next "I am an Empath. I can sense feelings of those near to me. I have major Affinity in handling magical creatures. I have a minor affinity in Charms."

Daphne and Blaise looked surprised since Empaths were really rare and were often not that outgoing since they invariably feel everyone's emotions in a crowd.

"How do you control feeling emotions in a large crowd, like the great hall?" Blaise asked curiously.

"My father thought me the technique to filter all the emotions that I feel unless I specifically concentrate on someone" Luna replied.

Daphne went next "My family has kept its ability to wield Wandless magic a secret. I also have a minor affinity in Transfiguration."

"How good is your wandless magic? You did not use much in our duel" Harry asked curiously.

"I am not that good. My parents are always busy as curse breakers and haven't had the time to train me during the summers. I can do basic spells or simple acts, like making the floor slippery, spells like summoning, stunning, tickling etc. It does not help that I have to practice wand magic everyday in classes. I am also not yet able to channel large amount of magic while using wandless magic" Daphne told them somewhat sadly.

"Don't worry Daph. I am sure we can come up with something for you" Harry consoled her. "What about you Auntie P?" he asked.

"I have the ability to heal naturally i.e. my magic can naturally heal small wounds without the need of a spell. I also have major affinity in Healing and Potions. I am no Potion Master but I can brew all the healing Potions myself. I have minor affinity in Charms" she told them all.

"Well, I am last," Harry started. "Being named in the prophecy, I have a… slightly more number of affinities."

He ignored Blaise's and Luna's snorts and continued "I have major affinity in Battle Magic first and foremost. I don't know how it is possible but I am able to wield the Battle Magic of the Black family. I can even open the books charmed only to open to the primary heir. I also have major affinity in Runes, Shields, Transfiguration and Charms. I guess that somehow I have the affinities of Black and Potter families along with my mother's affinity for Charms or possibly Enchantments. I don't know about minor affinities though. What a whooper huh?" he finished cheekily.

The others excluding Luna were flabbergasted. It shouldn't be possible but when a prophecy was involved, no one could say.

"Why haven't you shown anything in classes? In staff meetings, Minerva and Filius are always moaning that you do not have your parents' abilities. And what about O.W.Ls?" Auntie P asked him incredulously.

"I threw my O.W.Ls" Harry replied casually, his eyes filled with mirth. Seeing them shocked, he said "Hey, don't be so shocked, I am sure the Weasley twins also threw theirs. So it is not like I am the first one."

"Why did you not concentrate on those subjects? You said you did not really try in them?" Blaise asked him.

"I am no genius in Potions that Slughorn makes me out to be. I have just studied the basics in the Chamber library and it comes easy to me. I hate Potions because it is so slow. As for others, I completed Transfiguration and Charms till N.E.W.T level. I only read Runes when I was bored with others. I mainly concentrated on Battle Magic because that is the most pertinent subject for me to master given that an insane maniac like Voldemort is after me. I also looked up on shields because of the same reason. I have finished with all the books I found about Black family's Battle Magic. Now I might look up Runes and wards since Potters are famous warders" Harry explained to them.

"So you are the main attack force as it were in our small group for now. All of us do need to brush up on proper Defense and Offence. Then we can concentrate on our strengths" Luna commented helpfully.

"Definitely. Given all the shoddy Defense professors during the last six years, we have to concentrate on that first. We won't going looking for fights but in the future fighting is inevitable" Harry agreed.

"Harry, I think everyone should read _Magic – the Reality_ first. It is the most helpful book I have read till date" Luna told him.

Seeing uncomprehending looks, Harry explained to the others "It is a book that explains how and why Magic really works. Snape is teaching us sixth years non verbal casting right? That is also given in that book along with the reason why we don't really need elaborate wand movements. In our duel, you must have observed that I hardly did any wand movements. By the time you can cast a single curse, I can cast up to 3 spells if they are short. This gives me a tremendous advantage against opponents. The concepts in the book are not that difficult to understand but if you have learnt Occlumency, it helps immensely. Auntie P, you might also like to see that book. It might help you generally even if you won't ever be fighting with us. I would like you to be our healer."

"That will be best Harry. I have only learnt enough Defense to get by as I have always been keen to be a healer" Pomfrey told him.

"Very well Harry, we will read that book. Since we both know Occlumency, it shouldn't be that much of a problem as you said" Blaise told for himself and Daphne.

"Auntie P, I would like you to check all of us for any Potions or spells on us if you know how to check them. I don't want any external influences risking anything" Harry told them.

"You should get checked first Potter. After all, you are the one who is the closest to Dumbledore and is the target of Voldemort" Daphne told him.

"Yes, you are right but I have more problems than that. While Auntie P is checking for all of you, I will explain my problems" Harry told them seriously.

Luna then said "Check me first Madam Pomfrey, I have the next best chance of being tampered with since I went to the Department of Mysteries with him."

Auntie P told them "I know how to check for most Potions but I am not sure about spells. I know the standard healer's spells to check for external influences that's all."

"It is ok. Check for that now Madam Pomfrey. We can look up spells or other means later if we have time" Luna told her.

Auntie P started to cast spells on Luna to check as Harry started to explain his problem "My magic is acting weird. It is fluctuating. Some times it is completely fine, like when I dueled Blaise and Daphne. At those times, I can easily do magic as I have been able to. During other times, I can hardly do any proper spells. I can't perform even non verbal spells let alone Focus casting…"

Harry was interrupted by a curious Blaise "What do you mean by Focus casting Harry?"

"Just that. All you need to do is Focus on the spell you have to cast. If you read the book _Magic – the Reality_ and follow it, you will need only the basic wand movements and no spoken incantations. Using these techniques is what I have termed Focus casting. In theory, this kind of casting makes it possible for you to cast spells using any other magical focus too, not only your wand. It will be extremely advantageous. I want to get other magical focus like a bracelet or a ring for all of us."

Auntie P had finished her examination of Luna. "You are fine Luna. You need to build up your strength though. You seem a bit weak physically."

"Yes Madam Pomfrey, I will try" Luna replied.

Auntie P then proceeded to check Daphne. "Carry on Harry. I want to hear more about your problem."

So, Harry continued "One time, it seemed like my magic is just a shell covering something else entirely. I cannot even know if my magic is completely fine. I have no way of checking unless I cast a spell. Physically, there seems to be no effects. Mentally too there is nothing wrong, at least as far as I have observed."

"You too are fine Daphne" Pomfrey told her. She then addressed Harry as she went to check Blaise "When did you magic start to fluctuate Harry?"

Harry smiled sheepishly and said "Err… you see, I found the old ritualistic method of becoming an Animagus."

"WHAT? And of course you did the ritual?" Auntie P scolded him sarcastically.

"Yes" Harry admitted, "It was a fairly simple one. I already told you all that Rituals in themselves are not dark. Animagus is a set of three rituals. First one if to find some information about your form. The next one is to integrate yourself and your Animagus form. The third one is performed after the merging between you and your form is complete. The third one enables you to change and creates a balance between you and your form. This way, you get the benefit of your animal form. If you follow the ministry way, it restricts your form and you can't use your animal form's abilities. The ministry method will never allow one to be a magical Animagus if you have a magical form."

"Figures the ministry would not want powerful Animaguses running around creating problems for them. So what is your form" Daphne asked curiously.

The others were also curious to know what his form was. Pomfrey had finished checking Blaise but was waiting to know Harry's form.

"A Grim" Harry told them smugly.

"Wow! There has not been a Grim Animagus ever" Luna, the historian of the group told him.

Harry shook his head and said "Actually, there has been one Grim Animagus in the Black family. The Black family males had all been Animaguses till about 500 years ago. They kept it a secret though. Apart from the Grim Animagus, the others have always been a large feline or a large dog."

"Unbelievable! An entire line of Animaguses!" Blaise commented.

"Yes it is. Now when did your magic start to fluctuate Harry? By the way Blaise, you are fine" Pomfrey told them.

Harry grinned nervously and said "At the end of my fourth year, I did the first Animagus ritual. There was still time till the holidays, so I did the second ritual as well. The second ritual starts the merging of your form and yourself. At that point, I felt the Grim form searching for my magic. It seemed to me like my magic was a shell covering something inside then. The Grim then dived into whatever was inside the shell of my magic. There were rarely any fluctuations in my fifth year. It was during these holidays that the fluctuations started to increase in frequency. As the Grim part started to become more and more prominent, the fluctuations have become more frequent. The Animagus ritual is also the reason why my eyesight is improving. It has also resulted in increased strength and speed slightly. My emotions have also become more influenced by my Grim form."

"I don't know how this is possible Harry. Sorry. In all the medical cases I have studied and handled, not one has anything like you explained to me. Still, I would like to see if anything turns up in my spells" Pomfrey told him.

She waved her wand at him and performed spells on him to check for external influences and hoping to find the solution to his problem. At one instance, Harry glowed light green. Pomfrey was surprised but she continued with her examination.

"Well, I could not find anything related to the problem you told me. But, you are under the influence of a weaker compulsion potion" Auntie P informed him.

"Shit!" Harry cursed. "I won't even remember what I did under the compulsion right?"

"Yes, the potion causes you lose memory of what you were ordered to do under compulsion. But I have the cleansing potion and you should remember what you were made to forget once the potion is removed from your body. I have a vial of my strongest cleansing potion on my table in my office. I was examining it to improve it for Katie Bell. Go and bring it Harry" Pomfrey told him.

Harry Slid to her office directly and found the corked crystal vial. It contained a cream colored potion. Harry took it and Slid black to the Chamber.

"Yes that is the one. Drink it all up Harry. It should be more than enough for that weak compulsion potion" Auntie P told him.

Harry uncorked the vial and chugged the contents down. It was very sour but thankfully, it was not a thick potion like the Polyjuice.

Harry looked at her when nothing happened.

"Give it a few seconds Harry. It needs to travel to all parts of your body" Auntie P informed him rolling her eyes at his impatience.

A few seconds later, Harry glowed a light blue.

His expression got blank immediately and then changed into one of thunderous fury. Before anyone could stop him, Harry growled audibly and Slid out of the Chamber.


	12. Smooth Sailing

**Chapter 12: Smooth Sailing**

Harry was boiling with rage when the compulsion was removed from him. All the times he thought there was something wrong with the Ginny – Dean scenario, and that bastard had managed to hoodwink him. He now remembered investigating why Ginny was not too clear of the reason why she had even started to date Dean. He had his suspicions when she was more affectionate with him during the Christmas holidays. It led him to Dean doing something to Ginny alright. But then, Dean must have been feeding him the Compulsion potion all year. Whenever he uncovered Dean, Dean would just order him to forget about his doubts and leave him and Ginny alone.

Many times, he claimed Ginny to be his in front of Luna, Daphne and Blaise. And after that, every time, he wondered why he had left her with Dean. Then he had either followed or heard Dean plotting his 'turning' of Ginny. Then every time, he confronted Dean, he had just ordered him to stay away. He had been duped like this for five times. It was only because of his mental prowess that he had been able to start to look into the issue again and again. He did not remember any of his previous confrontations because he had been ordered to forget under the influence of the potion. He did not know that he had been under the influence of the potion, so every time he faced Dean, he lost.

Two times, he had learnt that Seamus was with Dean with whatever he was doing. Once, it had been as easy as getting him drunk to admit it. Five damn times!

This time, he would make Dean suffer. Seamus too was facing broken bones at least. The Grim was growling in agreement. Its vicious edge was giving him one gruesome scenario after another. Merlin help Dean if he had forced Ginny to have sex with him.

Harry had Slid into the room in the dungeons where he usually met Daphne and Blaise. He whipped out the Marauder Map and scanned the Gryffindor common room and their dormitory for Dean. He was not there.

He looked at the popular broom closets where the couples at Hogwarts were known to frequent. He was not there.

Next, he looked at the Astronomy tower in the Map. There were others but he was not there.

Harry did not look at the grounds since no one would brave the cold even if it was a weekend. He looked at the empty classrooms near the Gryffindor tower next. Bingo! Dean was alone in one of the unknown empty classrooms.

Since it was nearing curfew, not many people were walking around except for some couples. There was a corridor he recognized near the classroom. To his satisfaction, Seamus was just passing that corridor towards the classroom. He waited until Seamus entered the classroom and then Slid to the empty corridor.

He pocketed the map and withdrew his wand. He made it to the door of the classroom and tried to open it but it stayed put. It was too quiet. They must have locked the door and put up silencing charms.

Harry was too furious to be patient. This was not the first time, he did not really think ahead when he was furious. The Grim's emotions bled into him and they slightly eroded at his logical mind. Till now, he had waited to catch his prey. Now they were at hand and his fury was unchecked.

He jabbed his wand, thinking of the simple _Reducto_. Nothing happened!

His magic was fluctuating again. This was the second time after the Draco incident on train that his magic failed at a crucial time. Damn!

Too immersed in rage, Harry did not stop. But he did regain some semblance of logical thinking.

He did the proper wand movements and spoke the incantation softly _Reducto._

The door burst open with a bang and broke in two on hitting the wall. The startled pair of Dean and Seamus looked at the seething form of Harry who had just entered. Harry could almost feel their fear and nervousness.

Harry again did the proper incantation and spoke softly _Petrificus Totalus_. Seamus' arms snapped together and he fell down with a thud. They were D.A. members and they did not even have their wands out at the intrusion. Pathetic.

Dean had regained his wits. He seemed to have remembered that he had been slipping Harry the Compulsion potion. He yelled "Harry stop."

Harry had regained some of his control on his wayward emotions due to loss of his Focus magic due to fluctuation. He stopped as if he was following orders.

Dean let out a huge sigh of relief. But before Dean could notice, Harry did the wand movements and cast _Stupefy_. Dean slumped bonelessly to the ground.

Harry walked forward until he was face to face with a frantic Seamus. His eyes, being the only part he could move were darting around looking for something. Harry punched him hard on his face, knocking him out cold. He hit him harder than he thought possible.

Harry got up and took a few deep breaths. He was still angry but he needed a clear mind to expose them to others and especially Ginny.

Once he had overcome the urge to rip them apart, he took a look around. The classroom seemed to be a haven for Seamus and Dean. There were a few personal items like football posters, jerseys and other little things. A couch was placed where the professor's table should have been. Most of the chairs had been cleared away.

In one corner, a potion was bubbling merrily. Harry examined it and found it to be a very weak Compulsion potion that they had studies in their fourth year. So, this was how Dean and Seamus were doing it. This potion was weak and it had to be reinforced weekly. The brewer of the potion was in control of the compulsion. But the actual compulsion could not be too strong or the victim would be able to overcome the potion.

Now all he had to do was expose them, preferably in the same classroom.

Harry opened the Marauder's Map again and searched for Ginny. He had noticed her earlier in the common room while searching for Dean and thankfully she was still there. She must have been doing some assignments since it was her O.W.L year.

He repaired the door and locked it before Sliding to a nearby isolated corridor to the Gryffindor tower. He entered the common room just as some younger years did. It was nearing curfew after all.

Ron and Hermione were thankfully not to be seen anywhere. He spotted Ginny with her friends doing some assignment as expected.

He approached her and greeted her casually "Hey Ginny."

"Oh! Hi Harry. Ron and Hermione went to dorms early today" she informed him.

Harry grinned and said "Actually I wanted to talk to you, not them."

Ginny looked surprised "Me? I did not do anything." It was her natural defense. Growing up with the twins, she had had to defend herself from the accusations of pranking others on a regular basis and her mother was a hard one to fool.

Harry chuckled "I know." He then said seriously "Can you come with me now? I have to show you something really important."

Harry was rarely serious around her and so Ginny closed her books and said "Ok. If this is not important Potter, you will have to do all my assignments for a week."

"Of course my lady" Harry said mock bowing at her.

Ginny slapped him on the back of his head and muttered "Prat."

"Come on" Harry told her and led her to the entrance of the common room.

"Harry, it is time for curfew. I don't fancy getting caught by any professor" she said warningly but her eyes gave away her mischievous smile.

"Ah but this simpleton doth have the means my lady" Harry said and with an elaborated gesture, withdrew his invisibility cloak which he kept on him at all times.

"Trying to be in close quarters with me Potter?" Ginny asked archly. She knew of the cloak as she had seen and heard Ron, Hermione and Harry use it and discuss about it.

"Obviously" Harry told her, grinning impudently.

He whirled the cloak over both of them as Ginny stood close to him. He slung his arm around her shoulder and held the cloak around them.

Harry then led them carefully to the classroom where he had got the drop on Dean and Seamus.

Harry opened the door with a simple _Alahomora_ and got them inside. Whipping the invisibility cloak off them, he closed the door and cast the silencing charm.

To Harry's relief, both the spells worked with his Focus casting. The episode of magical fluctuation seemed to have passed. If Ginny observed it, she didn't say anything. In fact, Harry remembered that his magic never bothered him when he was Sliding. His magic was fluctuating when he Slid from the Chamber and it had not affected the actual process of Sliding. He had to think more on this later.

He turned around and noticed that Ginny was staring at the unconscious bodies of Dean and Seamus.

He put up his hands in surrender when Ginny whirled around with her wand drawn on him. "Now, now Ginny, calm down. I am going to explain everything. Give me a chance."

It was easy to make out that Ginny was furious since her eyes were narrowed and her ears were red. Reluctantly, she lowered her wand "Okay Harry one chance. Since you are my friend, I will trust you with this."

Harry exaggeratedly swiped his forehead and sighed loudly "I thought I was done for a moment there…"

"Now is not the time to be funny Harry" Ginny told him warningly.

Harry dropped the show and told her seriously "Take a look at the potion that is brewing and observe the room. You will get your answers then."

Ginny walked stiffly to the corner where the potion was bubbling and recognized it instantly. She had entertained the notion of dousing Harry herself with the same Compulsion potion before realizing that she did not want artificial affection induced by the potion.

"It is a Compulsion potion" she stated absently as she examined the room she was in. There were posters of football stars on the walls and some muggle photographs strewn around. There were also some clothes and other nick knacks. It was not difficult to realize that the stuff was Dean's.

"What is all this Harry?" she asked, clearly confused or she didn't want to acknowledge the truth.

Harry in turn gestured to Dean's body and said "How about we find out?"

Ginny nodded and Harry cast a silent _Ennervate_, waking him up. Dean opened his eyes and looked around. When he saw where he was and who was with him, his eyes widened with fear. He sat up abruptly and went for his wand. But Harry quickly bound him with ropes using a silent _Incarcerous_.

"Ginny" Dean cried helplessly "help me. Harry has gone mad."

Ginny's eyes went flat but her body shook as if struggling with something. It was close to a week when the potion had to replenished and in the presence of Harry, Ginny was able to overcome the effects of the Compulsion potion especially since she had guessed that she was under Compulsion. She never did want to hurt Harry or go against him and this was in her most basic thoughts. Since the compulsion told her to do that, she was able to fight and overcome it.

Harry watched fascinated as Ginny struggled and overcome the effects of the potion. She must have a great mental strength. Of course, having fought off a 16 year old Voldemort for nearly a year when she was 11 years old was compelling enough.

"Well done Ginny" Harry beamed at her.

Ginny smiled tiredly at him and fixed a glare at Dean. Harry could make out that she was seriously pissed and was seconds away from blasting Dean to pieces.

Harry put an arm on her shoulder restraining her and said "Later Ginny. You can do whatever you want with him after we hear what all he has had to say."

Dean was looking desperate. He shouted at Harry "Stun her and release me."

He had probably forgotten that Harry was not under Compulsion anyone in his panic.

Harry summoned Dean's wand and told him coldly "Don't think so Dean. Your potion won't affect me anymore. Why don't you start talking? I am not so sure I want to see Ginny's patented Bat Bogeys anytime soon, especially emerging from… a more private opening."

Dean flinched in horror at that thought while Ginny smiled ferally "That is a great idea Harry. I have never tried it. I think Dean would be the perfect first test subject." Then she pointed her wand at his privates threateningly.

"NO, NO. No please, I will tell you. Anything but that" Dean begged, obviously afraid. What bloke wouldn't be if threatened to have his privates blasted with bats bursting out of them? He knew for sure that Ginny would do it. She was not the one to back off if she was angered and now, even he could make out that she was furious.

"Start talking dearest former boyfriend of mine" Ginny told him way too sweetly for Dean's comfort.

"Me… Me and Seamus were frustrated with the unofficial taboo on sex among the pureblood girls. The half bloods and the muggle born students are willing to have sex with us but most of them are not that desirable. They were not as hot as some of the pureblood girls. So, we came up with a plan see. We decided to spike the drinks of two girls, one for me and one for Seamus. The cauldron you see now is my batch. Seamus has his batch stored in vials. We started using this at the end of last year. Seamus went for Lisa Turpin and I wanted you…"

Seeing that Ginny was close to hexing him, Dean babbled extremely quickly "As soon as I heard that you had broken it off with Michael, I started dosing you. I had the help of some gullible elf who agreed to put the potion in your drinks when I told him that it would help you improve your health. Seamus started to drug Lisa at the start of this year. Seamus easily coaxed her after a few weeks to have sex with him but I… you resisted me somehow. I could get you to kiss me but when it came to more than that, it was difficult to get you to hold me close. I don't know how you resisted but then Harry started to come after me. I spotted him when he overheard me the first time. He didn't do anything right then because Ron and Hermione were with him and we were all near the Defense classroom. The next morning, I gave him a dose of potion too. I used the same elf and it was ecstatic to help more people. When Harry confronted me, I simply ordered him to forget his suspicions and leave you and me alone. I could handle Ron but I knew I had no hope against Harry. He had defeated You-Know-Who many times after all if the rumors were true. I didn't want to take chances, so I continued to dose Harry regularly. Somehow, Harry too was able to break the Compulsion to an extent since he came after me again. This happened again and again for five times. Me and Seamus were thinking of researching a stronger version of the potion but we couldn't get into the Restricted section in the library. I am so sorry, very, very sorry. Please don't hurt me. Please" Dean finished begging needlessly.

Ginny did not even spare Dean another glance. She turned to Harry and asked flatly "How were you able to overcome the compulsion?"

"Madam Pomfrey was checking me for something else when she found the traces of the potion. She gave me another potion to fix this and since it was so weak, I was cleared in a few seconds" Harry explained not giving the full details since he didn't want to reveal anything to Dean.

"What do I do with him Harry? I need to be cleared of the potion still but I can't let him go now, can I? Lisa will have to be told and cleared so that she can punish Seamus or report to Flitwick" Ginny asked.

Dean pleaded frantically "I will do anything. Please don't hurt me. Please Ginny. Harry, please tell her."

Harry and Ginny ignored him. Harry told her "I say you use Dean to experiment how your Bat Bogey hex works in southern parts and then teach it to Lisa so that she can use it on Seamus. Since they wanted action to their parts so badly, I say we oblige him."

"Tempting. Very tempting but no, I want him to suffer more" Ginny replied carefully, thinking deeply.

"So what will you do?" Harry asked curiously. He had been under compulsion but he felt it was up to those who were wronged the most. Besides, it was not as if he couldn't take revenge later.

"I will have his oath, a slave's oath" Ginny told him strongly.

"NO!" Dean shouted horrified. He didn't exactly know what it entailed but from the name he could make out the jist of it.

"A slave?" Harry asked weakly. He did not think that Ginny was so ruthless. Maybe, he had misjudged Ginny. He knew she was devious but this was beyond any imagination.

Ginny rolled her eyes and snapped "Not a sex slave you dolt. I am sure he doesn't want to be expelled. He will be if this incident is brought to light. I will torture him slowly and I want him to obey me completely and suffer. This will also enable me to control him when he acts as my boyfriend until I can declare you to be mine publicly."

Harry was a little weary hearing her. He was the one who went for direct and deadly punishment but this was a long, long torture. Then he was completely thrown by her comment about their relationship. As far as he was concerned, he had not asked her. "Me, you boyfriend?" he asked questioningly.

"Yes. You did claim me as yours in the summer after all. And all the other times, you said I would finally be with you. I am just giving you a jump start now" Ginny explained waspishly.

"Hey, I am alright with that. No need to get snappy at me Ginny" Harry said quickly. He did not want to go against an obviously angered Ginny right now.

But internally, he winced. Daphne was due a date with him and she mentioned about meeting her parents. If he guessed correctly, it would be sort of a pureblood engagement. He definitely liked both of them. He would love to have both of them but both of them were too feisty to simply accept the arrangement if it was possible. He was going to be a smear on the wall before they got through with him. He would have to hope to explain to both Ginny and Daphne patiently or simply put them together and let them curse him as he explained. He was sure the shields that he learnt from the Black's battle magic could ward off their curses for some time.

Harry was usually on top of the game when it came to utilizing others or making some plans. He was in charge. But now, he willingly deferred to Ginny.

"Good Potter, you are far wiser than most men" she told him impishly.

Then she turned to Dean and glared hard "I want you to give an Oath of Slavery. It is either that or be cursed by me, Harry, my brothers and then expelled and possibly imprisoned."

Dean again pleaded with her "No please. Ginny, I will never trouble you again, I promise. I will never use the potion against anyone else too. Please Ginny."

"I told you your choices already" Ginny spat at him coldly.

Dean moaned piteously and said in a defeated voice "Okay, I will do it." Then he asked nervously "Can you tell me the wording for the oath? I don't know it."

"Muggleborn idiot" Ginny muttered before summoning a piece of parchment and a quill. She wrote the wording and handed it to Dean.

Ginny knew the specifics of the Oath of Slavery. The person taking the oath had to be touching the person to whom the oath was being sworn. So she removed her right shoe and sock and placed her foot on his forehead carelessly.

When Dean hesitated, Ginny prodded him with her foot.

Dean gulped and started reading "I, (_your complete name_) Dean Marvel Thomas, pledge on my mind and magic to willingly serve as a slave to Ginerva Molly Weasley. I vow to obey her till the time of my death and not reveal this to anyone. Thrice blessed be this servitude, thrice bound be my magic and thrice sworn be this vow."

Ginny then used her wand on her left thumb to make it bleed a little. She then used her right hand to write GMW on Dean's forehead in her blood. This was her mark of ownership. It could be anything. The mark flashed once and vanished to Harry's eyes. The mark would only be visible to Dean and Ginny now. This completed the Oath of Slavery.

Ginny gave her first orders to Dean "You are not to tell anyone of any of what happened tonight, including Harry's involvement. You will continue normally at studies. When you touch any woman or girl, you will punish yourself by hitting yourself in private away from prying eyes. You will never touch me again unless I tell you to. For now, you will pretend to be my boyfriend but only in front of others. Even then, you are not to be affectionate with me at all. You will never try anything to harm or control anyone else. You will not draw any suspicion from any professors regarding this Oath. Finally, you will never try to overcome this Oath or disobey me ever again."

Harry was silent through the Oath. He had read up on Oaths and Pledges when Luna swore a Witch's Pledge to him. This Oath of Slavery was abolished sometime in the 1800s. This Oath was used by wealthy and powerful wizarding families in the previous centuries to obtain the services of poor wizards. Slavery was pretty common in the wizarding world even after it was abolished in the muggle world. This Oath was the relative safe one since there were older Oaths that put entire families into slavery. The times of using such oaths were long gone. He was sure Ginny was not that vindictive to have Dean pledge his entire family into her servitude.

"Did I miss anything Harry?" Ginny asked him.

"No Ginny. I think you covered everything" replied Harry. "But what is this about pretending? I thought you wanted everyone to know about us as soon as possible." If they were pretending, Dean would have to at least touch her. Then he would have to hurt himself according to her orders. Harry definitely didn't want to be in Dean's shoes. Ginny was going to make him suffer like hell. He shuddered at the thought.

"Give me some credit Harry. I have got some of the flair for theatrics from twins. I want it to be grand and public… that is unless you are afraid Potter?" she finished teasingly. Her moods were quite unpredictable.

"No, no nothing like that. I just didn't want to wait that's all" Harry back tracked quickly while sighing in relief. He would have time to resolve the issue with Daphne and Ginny by then. Hopefully.

"Good. I don't think you should be there when I tell Lisa about Seamus even if you were the one who uncovered it. She will need a girl's company and your presence won't help her state. I will tell her tomorrow. I don't think anyone will miss Seamus for a day. Since it is Saturday today, him not sleeping in the dorm will be believable" Ginny told him.

"Yes" Harry agreed, "It will be no problem if we secure him. But along with that, let Dean stay here. Order him to keep Seamus her by any means necessary until you can get Lisa here tomorrow."

"Good idea Harry" Ginny said.

She then ordered Dean "Keep Seamus confined to this classroom by any means necessary until I come tomorrow. Stun him every few hours and don't try to escape from here yourself. Do not draw the attention of anybody to this room and you two until I come tomorrow."

"Please Ginny, let him go" Dean begged trying to spare his friend.

Ginny had to admire his loyalty but she was getting irritated by his begging. He didn't exactly disobey his orders but it was close. So, she gave a final order for the day "You will never try to dissuade me from my orders."

Dean opened his mouth to talk and then closed it again. He wilted and said "Okay Ginny."

Ginny drew her wand and released Dean from the ropes.

She then turned to Harry and told him "Come on Harry, I want the potion from Madam Pomfrey. I don't any potion to be in my body affecting me. I also want to get one more dose for Lisa for tomorrow. Then, you and I can have a good time again. It has been too long."

Harry was delighted at the prospect of sex with Ginny again, if that was what she had implied. It had been some time since Katie was hospitalized and he had not approached any other girls.

But, before that, he had to take Ginny to Auntie P. Harry was in a quandary. He could take Ginny to the Chamber now and then tell her about everything. The problem was that she might be reluctant to go to the Chamber and there was also the problem of having Ginny meeting Daphne if he did that. He was getting somewhere with Daphne and bringing Ginny after claiming her as his in front of her was a perfect recipe for disaster. What to do? What to do? Damned if he did, damned if he didn't.

Oh to hell with it!

Harry led Ginny to a corner of a corridor and stopped suddenly. "What?" Ginny asked confused.

"Listen Ginny, there is something very important I have to tell you. Can I trust you no to tell anyone about it, not even Ron, Hermione, your parents or even Dumbledore?" he asked seriously.

What could he have that he needed to be kept secret from everyone? Deciding that Harry had to asking for a very good reason, she said "Okay Harry. If you think it is required, I will keep it quiet." Besides, she did owe him a life debt.

Harry seemed even more nervous "There is this place I have to take you… but you might not want to go there… It is safe… but…"

Ginny looked at him blankly. Why was he so nervous? Then it clicked. She paled as she realized that Harry wanted to take her to the Chamber of Secrets where she almost died. "The Chamber" she whispered fearfully.

Harry pulled her close and said soothingly "Shh… Ginny, I know you don't want to go there. We won't go to the hall at all. We will go to a room. You don't have to go and see everything Ginny. We can just go the room and come back. I will be there with you and you have nothing to fear."

Ginny half heard what he said but she was still terrified at the thought of going to the chamber. After the Dean thing, this was too soon. She shook her head violently denying.

"Hey, I will be there with you. I promise I won't let anything happen to you" Harry said sincerely.

Seeing that she was still not convinced, he said "We won't even have to go to the place where the Basilisk was Ginny. We will go directly to the room and come back directly."

Ginny composed herself and asked him shakily "Is there another way to the Chamber?"

"Hmm… Not exactly. How about you close your eyes and do nothing? Before you know it, we will be in the room in the Chamber, alright?" Harry asked gently.

Ginny took a step forward and hugged him, burying her face into his chest. Then she felt the strangest sensation as Harry Slid into the room in the Chamber.

There was a cacophony of enquiries from Blaise, who was slightly scared, Daphne, who was curious, Madam Pomfrey who was worried and Luna who simply wanted to know.

Ginny suddenly whirled around and exclaimed questioningly "Daph?"

Daphne too called out "Ginny?"

Suddenly, they both embraced one another like sisters. Harry was momentarily forgotten. Harry was confused but also really worried. It was either way too good that they knew each other and were very friendly. Or it was way too bad for him since they could both hex him to pieces.

"Huh? What?" uttered a completely flummoxed Harry.

Blaise chuckled at his reaction while Daphne and Ginny turned to him grinning, Ginny's fear being forgotten. Luna was also looking at them curiously for once not having any clue about the situation.

Momentarily forgetting that she was in the Chamber and that Harry had somehow gotten them there in an instant, Ginny asked innocently "What what Harry?"

Harry waved his hand at them "This. How do you know each other?"

Ginny put an arm around Daphne's waist and said "Daph and Blaise helped me deal with the Chamber incident after my first year."

Daphne continued "We found her crying in an empty class and talked to her. From then on, we met regularly whenever she felt like venting or crying."

"Right terror those two were together I tell you" Blaise added smirking.

"I don't get it. I thought your family helped you. That is what family is for isn't it? You seemed so much better at the start of your second year that I presumed you were dealing with it" Harry told them still confused. He could not imagine that her family who were great people didn't help her overcome her traumatic experience.

Ginny snorted and said "Yeah right. Mom and Dad were trying to hide me in a room and get me to sleep. Ron ignored me. The twins were trying to prank everyone to get me to laugh and Percy, if I had the misfortune of being in his company, was harping about some book he read about dealing with near death experiences. Merlin! They were annoying. No, it was these two who helped me."

"This will take some time to get used to. When I read Blaise's mind, I saw glimpses of Ginny and I ignored it thinking that he wanted to date you. I never imagined you three would be this close" Harry commented. His thoughts were more along the lines of 'At the end of this night, I might be in heaven or be a permanent resident of St. Mungos.'

"What is going on here Harry? Luna, Daph, Blaise and Madam Pomfrey are here, if I guess right, in the Chamber of Secrets. Ron and Hermione are not. And how did you get me here so fast?" Ginny asked rapidly.

"We might as well sit down Ginny, it will take a while to explain everything. Auntie P, you might want to take a look in the library for something to help Katie" Harry told them.

"Okay Harry, I know when I am not wanted" Pomfrey said smiling mischievously and exited the room.

It took Harry an hour with inputs from Luna to explain to Ginny most of his secrets. She didn't interrupt him and heard him attentively. She was shocked and awed at his real capabilities.

After Harry finished, there was a long silence which was broken by "Harry, I knew most of this before but heck, I wouldn't want to be in your place, ever."

"Me too. Who wants a murdering psychopath after you?" Harry asked disgruntled.

"What?" Blaise asked startled, "No not that. You were planning to take Daphne out on a date and you obviously have something going on with Ginny. These two are a terror together. I don't even want to imagine what they would do to you."

'Uh oh!' Harry thought as Ginny and Daphne faced him angrily. They were glaring at him with narrowed eyes and Harry withdrew his wand carefully, prepared to cast a shield if they attacked.

He waited for their retaliation fearfully, dreading the consequences.

Suddenly, Ginny and Daphne stopped glaring and doubled over laughing hysterically. "Did you see his face" Ginny asked between laughs. For the first time, Daphne was laughing freely in his presence "Priceless" she commented gasping for breath. Seeing Daphne completely open in his presence, she seemed so much more beautiful.

Now Harry was really confused. "What?" Harry asked intelligently.

Slowly, Blaise's chuckled and their laughter ceased. Ginny addressed him pityingly shaking her head "Harry, Harry, what a naïve little boy you are. Whatever Hermione may wish, Daphne is my best friend. We admitted to each other long ago that we both had a crush on you. Your fate was sealed then. We decided to wait for you come to your senses and then tell you that we both liked you. Of course, I outgrew that silly crush and Daphne got over her image of the Boy Who Lived and saw the real you. She told me your 'oh so romantic' advances this year towards her. I had already told her what happened in the summer."

"Yes, it was amusing to watch you flounder in your attempts to woo me. You did get me a few times but we laughed silly over most of your wacky flirting" Daphne told him laughing lightly.

"Then I am the luckiest guy in the world. The two best looking girls want me. Go me!" Harry said cheekily, who had gathered his wits.

"There he goes again. Another lame try. I didn't understand why still Ginny was dating Dean even after your 'meeting' this summer but I figured Ginny wanted to wait a little bit more till you grew up" Daphne told him.

"About that. I just found out Dean was dosing me and Harry with Compulsion potions. Seamus too was in with it and he is dosing Lisa Turpin. Those bastards wanted to have sex with purebloods and used the potion we studied in fourth year" Ginny said darkly.

"What? Those blubbering jockshows? We have to think of something proper to punish them. He didn't succeed did he Ginny?" Daphne snapped angrily.

Ginny sighed sadly and said "Dean didn't but Seamus did. Poor Lisa will be devastated. But… I did get my revenge on Dean Daph. I made him swear an Oath of Slavery. I will make him suffer until the day he dies" she finished, grinning evilly.

Blaise shuddered and said "That is evil."

"So is what he did!" Ginny snapped back.

Harry intervened "Calm down all of you. I personally suggested she blow his bits off by casting her Bat Bogey hex on his privates but she decided this way was better. She is going to tell Lisa tomorrow and then Daphne and Ginny can do with them what they will. Dean and Seamus did a despicable thing and I won't feel a thing if they suffer for the rest of their lives."

Harry continued "Now, how about I get Ginny the Cleansing potion for her and Lisa? Then we can relax today."

Harry got the potion with Pomfrey's directions and gave it to Ginny. Pomfrey insisted on performing a thorough check on Ginny if there was anything else wrong with her. She also asked Ginny to bring Lisa to her if they did not bring it to the attention of the professors. She too was approving of Ginny's method of revenge and even gave her a few ideas to humiliate Dean. Harry whispered to Blaise secretively that they were surrounded by dragons in human form. Blaise agreed whole heartedly.

Then they all sat down to talk a bit more. Ginny was amazed when Harry told her his affinities. Then Luna asked her what her affinities were.

Ginny answered "Like all my family, I have affinity for Charms and Enchantments. It is prominent in my family with Dad and enchanted muggle things, twins with their products and Bill with his curse breaking. Being the seventh child and the first female Weasley in generations, I have the additional affinity for Offensive magic. My Bat Bogey hex is an example. I have not observed if there are more."

"Seven really is a magic number then?" asked Harry who really disliked Arithmancy since it was so boring.

Ginny rolled her eyes and said "Yes. The affinity I have for Offensive magic is due to being a seventh child. I am sure I have some affinity for being a female Weasley but nobody knows since it has been almost two centuries since the last one died."

Talk continued and Ginny especially teased Daphne and Blaise over their defeat against Harry. Later in the night, Harry checked the Marauder's map and Slid them out of the chamber to retire for the night.

Harry and Ginny stayed in the Chamber room and christened the bed. Daphne curiously did not say anything after a brief chat with Ginny. She did not join them or speak against it.

XXXX

The next day both Daphne and Ginny were unavailable since they were comforting Lisa Turpin. She was too distraught to think of a fitting punishment for Seamus. In the end, she was convinced by Ginny and Daphne that having Seamus as a slave was the best thing. Orders were given to Seamus similar to those of Dean so that Lisa could get her revenge in secret. She had been wary of Daphne but she came to depend on her and let herself be comforted by her. Madam Pomfrey offered to listen and help Lisa and Ginny if they wanted it.

That night, Harry asked Ginny to order Dean to destroy all his stock of Compulsion potions and to ask Lisa Turpin to do the same to Seamus. Ginny told him that she had already done that and that the potion vials were destroyed.

Harry had looked up the school library for spells to detect anything extra in his food. He did not bother to look in the Chamber library because the school library was more organized. It took him five days to find something that helped.

First, he looked up spells to detect magic but there was no such spell. Ironically, he thought it would help to detect if a person was magical or not.

Then he looked up spells to detect any potion. There was no such spell.

Finally, Harry found spells to detect Compulsion Potions, Love Potions and Truth Serums specifically. They were all types of potions though which a person was forced to do something against their will. They were the most common types of Potions used in such manner. So, someone had invented spells to detect such potions. From then on, Harry vigorously checked everything he ate and drank. He did it discreetly so as to not draw suspicion.

He thought Ginny and she thought Lisa Turpin the spells since they were the affected ones. The others too learned out of curiosity.

As for his revenge on Dean, he did not do much. He used a few of the twins' pranks on him and had Ginny order him not to try and counter them. Upon Ginny's suggestion, he added Seamus as well. Both of them got into a lot of trouble with the professors and were assigned a lot of detentions. They were not allowed to protest the detentions as well. It also gave Ginny the reason to be not seen regularly around Dean since she still had him pretend to be her boyfriend. Harry was satisfied enough with Ginny's mode of revenge and let it be.

XXXX

Harry spent some time with Hermione and Ron separately over the next week. He hoped to allay the suspicions about him if there were any. Unfortunately, Hermione too had not heard anything about Horcruxes as of yet. He was sure she would have tried to look it up in the school library by now. He hoped that Luna was having better luck in the Chamber library.

Remus had written him via Luna that he had arranged for the meeting with the Tonks family for the next weekend. Daphne informed him that hers and Blaise's families would also be able to meet him during the weekend. She told him that they wanted to see what he had to offer and wanted to know what his plans were.

So the next weekend, Harry first collected the students and took them to the Chamber separately. Harry had cleaned up an empty room in the Chamber and had converted it into a meeting room with round table and comfortable chairs. Then, he took Auntie P to the room and went to collect the guests – Tonks, Greengrass and Zabini families.

They were all waiting for him at the Three Broomsticks thinking that the meeting would be held there.

Harry disguised himself and took the same route as he did while retrieving Remus last week. He greeted Rosmerta with a cheerful "Hello Rosie."

"Good to see you dearie. You are being far too frequent this year" she commented lightly. She recognized the standard greeting Harry gave her and his usual disguise.

"All work and no play makes me a dull boy" Harry quipped. Seeing her confused expression, he explained "It's a muggle thing Rosie. Forget about it."

"Alright. Here to meet the Greengrass and Zabini parents?" she asked amicably.

"Yes and Tonks too. You will keep quiet about this won't you Rosie?" Harry asked non threateningly. He knew he could count on Rosmerta to be discreet.

Rosie gave an exaggerated gasp mockingly and said "Of course dearie. I would never betray you."

Harry bent over the bar and kissed her cheek "Thank you Rosie. I really appreciate it."

She smiled warmly at him and said "Mention not dearie. Now off with you to Rooms 5 and 12."

Harry saluted her stiffly "Ma'am yes ma'am" and did a quick march to the stairs, grinning all the time. Rosie's laughter followed him up the stairs.

Harry knocked on the door to Room 5. The door was opened by a sharp looking man. Since he was still in disguise, Harry asked "Mr. Greengrass?"

"Yes, may I help you?" he asked politely with the air of a knowledgeable man.

"Can we step inside?" Harry asked softly.

The man scrutinized him for a second and allowed him in. Harry noted that he had his wand in his hand all the time. Inside the room, there was a beautiful blonde who looked a lot like Daphne, her mother probably. There was an exotic dark skinned woman who Harry surmised to be Mrs. Zabini.

He went over to them and kissed their knuckles while greeting them. "Ladies, an absolute honor to be in the presence of such beauty" he said charmingly.

Mr. Greengrass cleared his throat "You wanted to talk to us Mr…" he trailed off hoping to get the stranger's name.

Harry dropped the disguise with a flick of his wrist inside his pant pocket where he held his wand and said "Actually, you wanted to talk to me. And if you can't guess already, my name is Harry Potter."

"Convincing disguise Mr. Potter" Mrs. Zabini commented.

"Thank you. Please call me Harry and may I know your names?" he asked politely.

"I am Hector Greengrass and this is my wife Helena and our friend Esmeralda Zabini" Mr. Greengrass answered.

"I have arranged for all of us to meet together along with a few other guests tonight. Your children will also be there. I only ask for a little patience to get to the meeting place" Harry told them smiling slightly.

There were a few raised eyebrows but his politeness and their chance to see their children won them over "Very well Mr. Potter, lead on" Mrs. Greengrass said.

"As I said, it is just Harry. Please follow me" he said and made his way towards the door again.

Harry reapplied his disguise and walked ahead. They followed him quietly to Room 12. Harry knocked and it was answered by Remus who smiled nervously and opened the door wide "Come on in Cub." He seemed a little unsettles to Harry.

In the room were a cheerful man with close cropped hair unlike any wizard he had seen before, Tonks with mousy brown hair and dull black eyes and a strikingly elegant witch with very sharp, shrewd eyes. Remus invited the rest in and Harry moved to greet the Tonks family.

He kissed the hand of the black haired, elegant lady and said "Charmed to meet you Mrs. Tonks."

"Likewise Mr. Potter" she guessed his name astutely hearing Remus' greeting.

Harry shook the man's hand and said "Mr. Tonks."

"Call me Ted, Harry. I can call you Harry right?" the man asked cheerfully.

Harry laughed as did Remus. "Of course Ted."

Tonks put on a fake smile and said "Wotcher Harry."

Harry pulled her into a gentle hug and said "Good to see you Tonks." He was still troubled why she was so morose but he couldn't do anything about it.

"Andy, what are you doing here?" asked a surprised but pleased Mrs. Zabini.

Andromeda Tonks got up and hugged her old friend "Marie, it has been too long. Apparently, we have a common host tonight."

There were greetings exchanged between the Greengrass, Zabini and Tonks families.

Harry coughed lightly to gain attention "If you would follow me, I will take you all to our meeting place."

Seeing her mother about to question him, Tonks interjected "Its alright mother. Harry is trustable and he is the godson of Sirius and his chosen heir."

Mrs. Tonks nodded and Harry led them downstairs. He led them towards Honeydukes but stopped in a side alley.

"I will have to take you all one by one from here" Harry informed them.

"Why is that Mr. Potter?" Helena Greengrass asked him sharply.

"I cannot travel with more than one at a time currently, though I am hoping to change that" he replied politely.

Tonks stopped further arguing by stepping up to him and holding out her hand. "What are you doing Nymphadora?" her mother rebuked.

"Come on mother, if there are no problems, I will send you a Patronus message. Besides, this is Harry and as I said, we can trust him" she replied without any of her usual perkiness.

"Alright young lady" Mrs. Tonks agreed grudgingly.

Harry ignored the proffered hand and put an arm around Tonks' shoulder before teleporting to the passage below Honeydukes. He had already put up lighting charms in the passage. He led her towards Hogwarts and stopped again. Her state was such that she did not ask any questions.

He again put an arm around her shoulder and Slid to the meeting room he had arranged in the Chamber.

Blaise, Daphne, Ginny, Luna and Auntie P were already there. Tonks dutifully sent a four legged Patronus carrying her message. She greeted the others mildly and slumped down on a chair.

Harry teleported to the passage to Honedukes and walked towards the sweet shop. When he was out of Hogwarts wards, he teleported to the alley where the others were waiting.

The Patronus had already reached and there wasn't any fuss other than the usual exclamations of surprise in the passage when Harry transported the rest of them to the meeting place in the Chamber. Remus was the last and Ted was the one who enjoyed the experience of Sliding the most.

Harry was elated at the extra Teleportation practice. He still had to try for longer distances but having an extra person alleviated some of his fears.

After perfuntionary greetings, they all sat down around the circular table to start the meeting. There were some surprises to people seeing some of them in the room, namely Madam Pomfrey.

"Before we begin," Luna started "I would like all of you to sign this. It is a secrecy contract."

"The consequences Miss?" Mrs. Tonks asked sharply.

"Lovegood. If you betray Harry's confidences, you will suffer and will be incapacitated completely and then Harry will be the only one who will be able to revive you" Luna told them honestly.

Harry too had not heard the exact consequences before this. Harry winced and expected all of them to refuse since the repercussions were too much.

But he was pleasantly surprised by a small smile of approval by Mrs. Tonks "Good. Precautions should always be taken."

The others did not make any fuss. Everyone except the students, Remus and Pomfrey signed the contract after examining it, though Mr. Greengrass had a faint smirk on his face. Harry remembered that he was a curse breaker. He was probably thinking how to break it.

"Mr. Potter, my son seems to think that we all would benefit by joining you to defeat the dark lord. Can you give us the reasons as to why we should join you when we have not joined either Dumbledore or the dark lord?" Mrs. Zabini asked.

Harry spoke in a calm voice "I am sure your children told you what they could. I need more people to achieve my goals but I don't want to force anyone. I won't tell you the errors you will make by joining Dumbledore or Voldemort" a few flinches from the Greengrass and Zabini bit nothing from all three Tonks' "nor will I tell you my previous interactions with Voldemort. I recognize my faults and I am trying to correct them. I do not have too much training and I do not have too much experience in worldly matters. I will accept your help if you wish to join me. I am no martyr fighting for the greater good or some stupid noble reasons. I do not fight for the light or for the good of the magical world. Those are just some idiotic idealistic views of ignorant people. I am fighting him to get revenge and to survive. I will fight for my friends and hopefully my future family. I hope you will all join me. Each of you have experiences in different areas of life and we do need adult guidance in some matters. Even if you do join me, I won't ask all of you to fight. In fact, I want all of you to be our advisors" he finished passionately.

The students interrupted the thoughts of the elders. Daphne said "Regardless of what you decide, I am going to follow Harry."

Ginny said immediately "Me too."

Blaise added "I too shall follow Harry."

Luna said "I have already sworn to follow him always."

Madam Pomfrey said "I owe what I am today to the Potters and I fully support Harry in everything."

Remus smiled and said "I am with them. Harry is the son of James and Lily, I would do anything for him."

Mrs. Greengrass chuckled and said "Well, it seems like our children have decided. Being good parents we cannot seriously think of not looking out for them. I speak for Marie and my husband in saying that even if you are a foolish 16 year old teenager, we will join you. For some reason, Daphne has taken a liking to you and we have heard some of your accomplishments. We were definitely impressed."

Mr. Greengrass and Mrs. Zabini nodded to show that they agreed.

Everyone looked expectantly at the Tonks family. Ted was smiling but he kept quiet. Tonks was quiet and morose but she seemed attentive enough. Mrs. Tonks was regarding Harry carefully and then said "Release you magic."

"Excuse me?" asked a confused Harry.

"Release you magic. Or shall I say bring up your magic to the surface" she elaborated.

Harry closed his eyes and then brought the Grim to the surface, trying to push his magic outwards, though he had no idea how. It was like pushing against a murky curtain. When he felt the emotions of the Grim mingling with his own, he opened his eyes and looked directly at Andromeda Tonks.

She stared at him unflinchingly and then smiled slowly "Just as I thought. I had heard things from Mr. Lupin regarding you Mr. Potter. He told me of your yearly exploits and I must say you are a remarkable young man. You are a powerful wizard and your eyes glow when you release your magic. Even though I knew your parents were powerful, I had to make sure that you were determined about your goals. Power without clear thought will make you no better than Voldemort. But without power you cannot do anything. Very well, we shall join you. I can see why Sirius adored you so much."

Harry was touched by her comments. There were not many people who could stare into his eyes without flinching. He had been told they were unnerving at times.

"Thank you Mrs. Tonks. I wish you all to call me Harry" he said politely.

"We all know each other pretty well Harry," Hector Greengrass stated. "We know you have made some plans but we do not know what exactly you are planning. Tell us more."

"Gladly. If you have some suggestions, please tell me" Harry said and told them what he had discussed with Blaise, Daphne, Luna, Remus and Auntie P. To say they were surprised would be an understatement.

"You have given this a lot of thought. Your ideas are interesting and with enough hard work and persuasion, they can be realistic. I am very glad that you are really serious about this" Hector Greengrass told him.

"Yes. I think your ideas are much more than just opposing Voldemort. These enclaves of yours will give you and hundreds of others a way of life that has been sought after for a long time. I do hope you can accomplish all that" Andromeda Tonks stated.

"We" Harry corrected, "it will be all of us doing the things. As I said, I don't want this to be a dictatorship. I want us to decide as a group. But at the same time, I do not want to bring in too many other people. Then we will be discussing for days over things instead of acting."

"Hmm… you are right. If I may suggest, I would ask you to look at the magical communities in other relatively small countries. They are much more liberal with their beliefs since the magical community in itself is very small" Mrs. Tonks advised.

"I would advise against trying in the United States though," said Hector Greengrass who had had dealings with the US government during his curse breaking jobs. "They have a large community of relatively open minded magical people but they are more geared towards their own betterment and the betterment of their country. They believe in their country and would hardly want to work with you unless they want to earn money in which case, you would have to fork out a fortune."

"See this is what I wanted. You could all advice us and improve our plans. You know things that we don't. Already you are all proving your worth" Harry told them all gratefully.

Mrs. Zabini spoke in her cultured voice "We do have strengths in various fields. I have a mastery in Potions, Helena and Hector are renowned curse breakers, Ted has a brilliant mind, slouch that he is and his daughter is an accomplished auror and a metamorphagus, and Andy is well, plain dangerous. From what you told us of yourselves, you each are different and skilled in various other fields."

Blaise interrupted his mother "We all have unique talents yes, but we are not skilled… not yet. We need to train to be skilled at our abilities."

"Well, I for one say we first focus of fighting. We are not learning much in that way at school and I don't want to be helpless when the death eaters attack the next time" Ginny said reasonably.

"Yes" Harry agreed. "We have to focus on fighting and our abilities first. The Chamber library has a lot of books in that regard and if there is nothing to one of there, I hope Mr. and Mrs. Greengrass can acquire the necessary books for us." Then he looked at Mrs. Tonks and asked "By the way Mrs. Tonks, have you been trained in Black family's battle magic?"

She looked surprised but she answered negatively "No, I have not. My parents were not the sort who wanted a woman who could fight, but then again, they did allow Bellatrix to learn the dark arts." She said off a little angrily, for what Harry couldn't make out. Then she took a cleansing breath "That said, I can hold my own in a fight. I learnt what I could on my own since I knew the dangers of marrying a muggleborn like Ted after being born in the Black family."

"Mrs. Tonks, I will lend you the books from the Black library about the Black family battle magic. Believe me when I say it is completely different from the dark arts or any other magic you have learnt. It is highly potent but only you and I can use that it seems. Maybe Narcissa Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange if they got the books which will never happen" Harry spat.

"I know. I did research into the Black family and its affinities when I wanted to break off from the family. It is sad that such a powerful legacy has been wasted away by foolish people even though they were my forefathers. I would very much like to learn the Battle Magic. What I don't understand is how you can do the spells. As far as I had researched, only the primary children can use Battle Magic. Not even Nymphadora can do those spells even if I taught her" asked a curious Mrs. Tonks.

Harry shrugged and said "I don't know. I am just able to do it that's all. Luna is a history buff and when she told me about all that, even I was surprised. Maybe Sirius found something and used some ritual on me, I don't know. I am just extremely glad that I am able to use Battle Magic, whatever little amount of it is available after Maurius Black hid away most of the knowledge and wealth."

Ginny cut in proposing a very valid point "Harry, I know you have enough galleons to fund all this for a couple of years but, I think you have overlooked another source – the Basilisk that you killed. Its parts can e harvested and sold."

"Is that the one you killed in your second year?" Mrs. Zabini asked interestedly.

"Yes. I am in a quandary about that. If we sell that, no doubt we will get loads of galleons but the ingredients most assuredly fall into Voldemort's hands one way or the other. I don't want to give him that advantage. If he learns about this, he will deduce that we are in this Chamber and he might try something" Harry replied.

Mrs. Tonks offered a solution "Then keep it to our own use. I am sure Marie would love to experiment with it and create some long forgotten potions. There must be shed skin from the snake. You can sell that. It is used similar to dragon hide. It is better than some but poorer compared to other types of dragon hide. It has to be quite big and it will fetch a hefty price, a few hundred thousand galleons per skin at least."

"We can sell the shed skins to countries like Egypt and India where snakes are worshipped. Those countries have a big enough magical society even if they are overlooked by English wizards" Mrs. Zabini advised.

Harry was very glad to have included adults now. They were offering valuable advice and they knew about other magical communities and post education wizarding society. "Hmm… there were quite a lot of shed skins in the Basilisk's nest inside the mouth of Slytherin. Also, there were two large skins in the outside chamber. We can keep some for ourselves and sell the rest. Mrs. Zabini, Mrs. Tonks, could you sell it for us?"

"Of course" Mrs. Tonks agreed and Mrs. Zabini nodded her approval.

"Now Mr. Potter, my wife and I would like to discuss about our daughter with you" Mr. Greengrass said.

Harry refrained from gulping since he already knew that Daphne and Ginny had accepted him with all his troubles. Daphne's parents couldn't really do anything but still, it would mean a lot to Daphne if they had her parents' consent. He saw Daphne look towards Ginny and himself before blanking her face. Similarly, Ginny looked at Harry and Daphne and settled into her chair.

"Yes sir" Harry replied cautiously.

"We know now about your intentions and your abilities. While you are wealthy and powerful, you are also targeted by quite a few people. Do not get us wrong, we fully support our daughter's choice but we want to make sure that she will be taken care of in case something happened to you" Daphne's mom said strictly.

"I understand" Harry replied, "I will make arrangements for anything that I own to be divided equally between Daphne and Ginny if something happens to me."

Mr. Greengrass' gaze sharpened to a glare and he asked stiffly "Why is Ms. Weasley to be included Mr. Potter?"

"Because she is as dear to me as Daphne" Harry replied calmly. He did not know how he was able to remain so calm but he was.

"Is that so Mr. Potter? What if you later decide that Daphne is not important to you?" Mrs. Greengrass asked sharply.

"Mrs. Greengrass, frankly, I do not love either of them currently," Harry said defiantly, "I care about both of them very deeply and would protect them with my life. I hope to learn to love them in the future and always keep them happy. Besides, the decision is out of my hands. Daphne and Ginny have already decided that I was to be theirs and they told me so."

Daphne and Ginny were both shocked when they heard Harry tell that he didn't love them. They were about to rise and curse him when he continued. Ginny could understand that his formative years at the Dursleys and his company in school were responsible for that. He probably hadn't consciously connected with people on a deep emotional level. Daphne knew that Harry was closed off at most times and had rigid control of his emotions unless provoked. She did not know his past history in detail but Ginny and she had observed his reserved nature and his reluctance to let people in to his private world. She would have to discuss more about this with Ginny later.

The other guests were looking on curiously. While such relations were not uncommon in the wizarding world a few decades ago, nowadays they were non existent. Mrs. Tonks found it amusing that the girls had made the decision and netted him. Remus was thinking about the reactions of Harry's parents' and Sirius' reactions.

Mrs. Greengrass turned her stare to her daughter "Well, you forgot to mention this little… information at home."

"So I did" Daphne replied calmly not in the least bit bothered.

"Why should I allow this? Why have you accepted such a relationship?" Mr. Greengrass demanded.

"Ginny and I became close friends and discovered our mutual attraction to Harry. We had a few fights but in the end, we agreed that we would share him. He is the most eligible wizard of our generation. Hearing about his exploits, I did begin to care for him. I accepted this relationship because he is attracted to both of us and we both have had our sights on him. As for you allowing us father, I really don't think you have any choice. For a person who has faced Voldemort and has subverted Dumbledore's control, this is not even a consideration" she said strongly.

Her parents turned to Ginny and asked "Am I to understand that this has your parents' approval?"

"No, not yet. And I don't plan to tell them anytime soon. I hate to say it but I don't know how much they can be trusted since they have been in Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix for a long time. Besides, it is not their decision since it involves my life" Ginny finished strongly.

Daphne added her support "Yes, it is our decision. It is our lives. We have already agreed to fight with Harry and we will be in danger anyways. Regarding how it will affect us, we are okay with it and Harry is too or will be. Besides, there is not any other really eligible male around. Who else do you want us to associate with – that prick Malfoy? Or some nerdy idiot like Boot? We have made the best choice."

"But still…" her mother hedged.

Daphne huffed and replied "Oh come on, it is not like I am committing a big sacrilege or something. Me and Ginny are just sharing a man. A few centuries ago, it was common and even now, the pureblood bigots do keep many mistresses. We have just preempted the process that's all. And if you still don't like it, keep your opinions to yourselves. We are decided on this and whatever you tell us will not change our minds."

"Too right" Ginny agreed.

Hector Greengrass took along assessing look at his daughter and then nodded resignedly. She was his daughter and all but she was more than a bit headstrong. And he couldn't really fault her choice. Harry Potter was a very good choice. It was just his feelings as a father that wanted undivided attention and care for his daughter. Bringing another girl in to the relationship would result in more chances of there being discord amongst them.

"All right but we will follow formalities in the next meeting and there will be a betrothal before he courts you." He stopped and continued before over his daughter's protest "we agree to this relationship but there is a limit to what we can be comfortable with."

Harry quickly agreed "It is not a problem Mg. Greengrass. We can take care of it in the next meeting. Anyway, we had better break up this meeting. It is late and we can have another meeting next week."

They dispersed but not before Harry gave Andromeda the battle magic books.

They still had a lot to do before the next meeting and a lot of things still needed to be discussed among them.


	13. Fight

This injustice by ffn is unacceptable. You have all seen how unfair it is. So lets FIGHT!

Don't let this stand.

If you agree with me then go to www(dot)change(dot)org/petitions/fanfiction-net-stop-the-destruction-of-fanfiction-net and forum. fanfiction topic/111772/63683250/1/#63698621, then copy and paste your name at the bottom of the list below.

Dez Guardius.

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